What kind of load are we talking? Do you think there is a lot of force in the Z direction when cutting? Does it matter if it’s an upcut or downcut spiral?
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Hi Jonathan
I’m considering a lowrider too, I’m in Akaroa NZ. Whereabouts are you?
cheers
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I’m debating between the lowrider and the mpcnc myself. I’ll mostly be cutting/routing foam for RC airplanes. Maybe some wood projects here and there. It seems like nobody starts off with the lowrider though? There’s a lot more support and videos of the mpcnc?
I’m in Jackson, GA
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Hey Josh, I live in Griffin.
Ive built both recently, a 30 x 30 cutting area MPCNC and then a 48 x 96 Low rider.
Both are awesome designs and machines, especially for the price.
The MPCNC is more accurate but the Low Rider wins for me because I can throw a whole sheet up on it and cut and cut and cut.
There is more support and videos for the MPCNC because it has been out a lot longer than the low rider and it is alot more versatile so more people seem to build it.
I would say both are the same degree of difficulty building, which for someone with a little mechanical and computer background can figure out pretty easily, not to mention the support you can get from these forums.
You would be happy with either one, just picking the right one for what you want to do is key.
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I am glad that I found this thread. I have the lowrider kit sitting on my table, untouched, because I am not completely sure whether or not I wanted to try to return it in exchange for an MPCNC or not. My main concern is the amount of space that it would take up.
As I told Ryan, my interest is mainly plastic and plywood up to three-quarters of an inch. A lot of flat-pack. After discussing the project with some friends, I may end up giving it a home in their garage and exchange 4 shared usage time on the machine. It looks like there’s going to be a bunch of learning and all of our futures.
Has anybody tried using this machine for foam?
Jeffeb3 did all his initial testing in foam and made a thread full of pictures about it. There is also another link in the gallery at the very bottom. Foam is the easiest material to “mill” so that is an ideal material to work with.
Oh yeah, I did. 
Cutting foam is easy. If you’re going to do a lot, then you’ll want a good way to secure it and you’ll want a soft spoil board, probably made of foam. That way if you go through, you can keep your high doc and speeds.