O.k. so I guess, instead of why not, I should follow suit.
Like MakerJim, this place is a 2nd home to me. It is a community, I find myself in here for soooo many things, and unless it is Political or Harmful, it is welcome, WOW, mind blown, we can use this space for any thing, (Within limits) Dude! so I work in the Cutting tool industry, I am a network admin, (well now just network engineer and love that segmentation nosw) and i had no real world knowledge of CNCâs. I was ready to make an openbuilds one I think, and then i came across the mpcnc! WE had great fun with that here in my home. I did so much for the kids. T shirts for one, they loved the iron on tshirts I made. I used stickers for some things. And then summer came (Michigan) and I moved my mpcnc from the living room (we have a great room) to the garage and I really started to have fun. Then somehow I walked my self into the lr4 (i had been watching/enjoying the process as they ate their way through problems. The lr4 was the first one that was done in an open format. Then one day Ryan says we should test Petg. Bam, I said wow, I can do that. And i came in at the last minute and printed a lr4 out of petg. (and it is still working great, no replaced parts yet!)
I did get to meet and become friend with some of you at MRRF 2023, (I think it was). Wow was that fun!
I used to jest alot about âRyan, thanks for keeping the lights onâ and i can say that jest is not the correct word. It is real. Meeting members from all over the world is GREAT. I really wish that @guffy from ukraine would come in and say he is still here!
But Truly, My answer is still âwhy notâ because there is no reason not to be here. You ALL have made it very comfortable. Thank you!
ok, i think my run away sentences and even paragraphs are done now.
Way back in like 2011 my late father sent me a link to Buildyourcnc.com. So I did. Cue up a divorce, three iterations of CNC routers (2 I designed), two houses and a move to a much smaller house and I came across the MPCNC pre Burley. Bought an Ender3 220 on September 24th 2018 and built it. Upgraded to the Burley, upgraded to the Primo. Tried out a MP3DP. Hated it. Built to Hypercubes. Found a community that did not care what I built but was happy to share.
Help some with V5 and just cant stay away. Kid has the Hypercubes. The Ender has been upgraded. Have a Delta, and an unfinished LR3 ( I swear I will get it done soon!) and a V4 and V5 MP3DP.
I learn from this place and that is more valuable than any of the hardware!
My reasons are a bit stupid⌠I had a small workshop with a portable table saw and was tinkering a bit, but I hadnât done anything with electronics. I did see CNC machines before, also 3D printers, but it was both far away in my mind. Then, 5 or 6 years back, a student showed me his dadâs absolutely awesome shop and they had everything but a CNC. I was a bit jealous and wanted to have something he didnât (like, really a very stupid reasonâŚ). Itâs not even that I wanted to tell him about it, but it was kind of a motivator.
I googled around for CNCs and found two that I liked, @Unclephilâs build being the main motivation with his MPCNC build on YouTube to choose the MPCNC. I joined the forum, asked around, self sourced a few of the parts and bought a Prusa Mini (what a great excuse to get a 3D printer!). Shortly before I started printing, news of the Primo started circling, so I bugged Ryan for at least several months with âWhen ready???â, striving for the title âMost annoying newcomerâ. During this time I got the controller ready (with an Arduinoclub board with 3 external drivers that uses EstlCAM. Uncle Phil used EstlCAM after allâŚ).
So I built the Primo. It was a lot of fun. We found problems with the clamps which were fixed, it was interesting as well. Then I started my first projects, learned of squaring etc and advanced my skills more and more, posting tons of things I had made. I changed to the LR3 a year after release and then was part of the Beta team for the LR4 which was a lot of fun.
What made me stay is the community. I lived through the golden age of forums of every kind, having been in a lot of them, I was surprised how friendly the atmosphere is around here. I always tell people that this forum is candy cotton unicorn land, where people are encouraged to create new threads instead of âUse the search function before asking somethingâ.
Like Jeffe I found myself at a place some day where I could answer those questions or at least give helpful tips, which was nice, but I also received tons and tons of help as well. Just because I am pretty good at working with a CNC now doesnât mean I know what I am doing.
I also, like Jonathan, became more involved in distribution of the LowRider parts. I asked Ryan permission to build a LR for someone in Italy, afterwards I was asked if I wanted to distribute parts which I declined at first because my wife does not like the smell of the printer and because I was not happy with my prints sometimes. The Core One changed that with the filter and the closed off chamber. Because I saw the need to provide printed parts and the original seller in Germany didnât want to do the LR4, I stepped in, also finding a manufacturer for the Aluminium plates who are really hard to get in the EU without breaking the license. So now everyone wins.
Even though I sold my Ghostrider yesterday and built another CNC, I will stay to be an active part in this community, because most people here are people I genuinely like, some of them Iâd even call my friends, whom I have been chatting with outside of this forum nearly on a daily basis, sharing laughs, pictures and stories. I have been online and highly active in this forum every day for the last years, missing only 1 or 2 days in total (even when drunk at a festival I checked in⌠).
I am looking forward to staying a part of this community and am looking forward to the next beta build.
Started with V1 by offering my support in the forums while building my Burly and have stayed because of the community. I love seeing all the inventive projects and problem solving, and helping in whatever ways I can to be successful in starting or continuing their CNC journeys.
Seeing a lot of similarities - I used to watch Lumenlab for the home-built projector (ended up buying from a state surplus site instead). Built reprap 3D printers as a technical college student group advisor. Built my own CNC (phlatprinter) for making foam aircraft but liked the idea of the MPCNC and had a spare controller from doing a âbrain swapâ on a K40 laser engraver.
Differences include background with computer embroidery and have expanded that into computer controlled knitting machines. Crossed back over by 3D printing a circular sock knitting machine.
The CSM could maybe do baby caps, but it does pretty narrow tubes even with the cylinder with the largest number of needles. The machine I built is on Printables at Circular Sock Knitting Machine for my MOM and YOU! by JeepingJohnny | Download free STL model | Printables.com but it is a refinement of an earlier machine you can still find on Thingiverse. Let me know if youâre considering building one and Iâll let you know what upgrades/modifications Iâve found beneficial.
I also have a Brother KH910 flatbed knitting machine running AYAB hardware and software. It has 200 needles on the main bed and another 200 needles on the ribber, so doing a hat on that machine would be no problem.
Back in the late 2000s, I used to hang around at Lumenlab. I had built a few LCD projectors. A couple of people there also messed with CNC machines, and thatâs where the interest started. They were able to make some very impressive projects with them.
There were some machines that could be built, but parts would need to be shipped, and that bumped the cost over what I could reasonably afford. I hung around cnczone forums, almost built a couple of machines to be bootstrapped with tablesaw and drill press (which I have) but never did.
I did buy a 3D printer. It was junky, clunky, and not very good, but I learned enough from its design to make a better one. I learned some basic CAD.
Then I came across V1. Bootstrap a CNC by 3D printing. At that point I wasnât sure enough about my 3D printer, but the thing about shipping 3D printed parts is that theyâre lightweight. Nowhere near the cost of shipping MDF panels, so I bought a Primo printed parts kit. I also bought a LR2 printed parts kit. Around then, I also had upped my game for 3D printing, in part by printing and testing other V1 parts. I built a MP3DPv2, then a ZenXY. Then I beta tested the ZenXYv2, and the LR3, and the LR4âŚ
Iâve told my story many times over the years. Basicly I was a hospital chaplain in great need of a hobby. This rabbit whole that Ryan had set up has led me on an amazing journey, and Iâm still tumbling down this rabbit hole. Life changing in many ways. New job, makerspace in my hometown, so many people all opportunities happening. All thanks to Ryan and this place.
These days Iâm not so active. Mostly because life is so packed - but also because reasons connected to the orange figure. I appreciate all the people here - but I need to shield myself from thinking about the USA. Itâs unfortunate, because I know very well how this is a safe space for many of you.
I needed to upscale from my Handibot cnc (150x200mm work area), but needed it to fit in my car. I teach cnc workshops around Ireland and Northern Ireland. Commercial options for a big-portable cnc at the time seemed flimsy. I gravitate toward anything that is DIY and hackable, so I was drawn to the mpcnc like a neodymium magnet to steel. But what clinched my decision, as everyone here agrees, was how useful and friendly this forum is. My first queries got a ton of great feedback; thanks to all who welcomed me and helped me then, and ever since those early Covid days.
I was looking at the build your cnc machines when I discovered the mpcnc on thingiverse. I finally nagged my wife into getting me a 3d printer so I could print one. Been building them ever since.
I changed to the LR3 a year after release and then was part of the Beta team for the LR4 which was a lot of fun.
land, where people are encouraged to create new threads instead of âUse the search function before asking somethingâ.
).
Been building them ever since.
