I am thinking about getting a Low Rider in the spring. We just moved, and had to downsize, and I don’t have room for a full shop. I have half of a small 2 car garage available. And I need to use that same half for storage of other things as well. My goals:
I want to build some custom built in cabinetry for several rooms and closets in the house.
This is the biggest and initial goal, and is what led me to finding the Low Rider. Something that can handle full sheets of plywood. I have built furniture and cabinets in the past with tablesaws, routers, jointers and planers, etc. It seems a 4 x 8 CNC will allow me to manage cutting all my cabinet parts without needeing to buy multiple big machines that I don’t have room for.
After finishing the cabinetry, I might want to downsize the CNC, but maybe not. My other interests are cutting custom pickguards from plastics and wood for guitars and basses, Building small accessories for some of my basses. And maybe even building a whole guitar from scratch, including a neck carve and compound radiud fretboard.
So, with all that said, does the LowRider seem like a good fit? I don’t have a 3D printer, so I’d probably order the printed parts. I’d like to get into 3D printing, but there are budgetary constraints.
it will definitely work for cabinetry if you build it carefully. full sheet LR4 takes a lot of space in the garage so make sure that you plan for it. you can push it into the corner but having access from all 4 sides is very convenient. you need to be able to screw the sheet to the bed for cutting
get a bamboo lab a1 mini as a printer, it is not expensive and will cover 90% of your printing needs. or have a mate with a printer nearby. just in case you break some parts and have no way to replace them.
you also need a shop vac and a dust cyclone added to your purchase list
I second what Serg says. I built a large one to hold full sheets, so you will have to overbuild it on the Y so it will cut the full sheet goods.
There are a lot of programs online that can help you organize your cut plan where you can modify it to fit into your preferred CAM software (ESTLCam is the most recommended here, MillMage is new but already really good).
I have read quite a few people who have downsized after learning that a full sheet is overkill for them, and very easy to do. The LR4 can be taken off of a table in under 2 minutes if you need a multipurpose table. It’s also the most economical CNC machine I have encountered and it can be incredibly accurate when dialed in.
I have similar plans to build guitars with my nephew, others on here have already made some pretty stellar examples.
Lastly, the community here is really great. If you have any question on the build, setup, run, calibrate, etc just start a fresh post here and someone will almost definitely jump right on it - or start a build thread and the community will watch as you progress.
Ultimate decision is yours, but for the shear learning experience I am glad I built one.
The workflow compared to traditional machines is pretty different, but the biggest advantage is that while it is cutting, you can be doing other things on your project while you are keeping an eye on it working.
It is slower at cutting than a table saw, but it can cut, drill, and dado…all while you are assembling other things, sanding, file prep…or doomscrolling.
i have a track saw and a table saw but LR4 can cut more accurate then me. may be a professional traditional cabinet maker can do it faster with traditional tools but definitely not me.
track saw is fast to cut but slow to setup and measure. especially if you need to make 5 of something, that is where any cnc really shines.
the funny thing is that I’ve built the LR4 for less then the price of Makita track saw and a set of rails for it. I’m in New Zealand so our tools prices are much higher then in US and I’ve self sourced all parts for LR4
All you need to do to downsize is shorten the table, the Y rail, and the belts. No X axis/gantry mods needed at all. While the recommendation is to have the X be shorter than the Y for the “yellow brick road” build there’s not a really strong mechanical reason for that (as long as the X length is within reason). If you roll up the extra belt instead of cutting it, it would be a pretty easily reversed modification should you come up with more full-sheet projects in the future.
This is definitely how I am viewing it. It seems better to me to CNC the parts than do them manually with a track saw/jig saw/router and drill.
I definitely plan to get dust collection. If I have this set up in the garage, can I let it run unattended while working in my home office? I figure I’ll set up a camera to keep an eye on it.
I know it sounds harmless but this is a huge no-no. The routers can start a fire in a split second, when they do the fan keeps blowing on it and it gets big fast. Please don’t walk away at all.
Also, looks like the Bambu P1S would be a good printer choice for me with some of my other printer plans. Should also print all the lowrider parts if I’m understanding things correctly.
As long as you are within earshot, usually when things go wrong you can hear it happen. Turn and take a quick glance. Tabs can pop, you can hit a clamp, break a bit, all sorts of random things. I rarely ever have an issue but when I do being right there lets me hit pause, or just power off the router, worst case kill the power.
not a good option especially a p1s. old model which does not support nice auto calibration like A1 series. if you go for a bambu either the A series or H series with a chamber heater. but bambu is not the nicest company in the world but a great beginner printer
in my view the additional cost of enclosed printers only makes sense if they have a heated chamber for abs printing. for the rest of the stuff not much difference
A1 vs A1 mini depends on the actual cost difference. dont get an ams for it. spend the saved money on carbide endmills and nice birch plywood
Well, I just got the goahead to get a 3D printer from the CFO (wife). If I print my own parts for the LowRider, how much money does that save on the CNC part of this adventure?
Starting to go down the rabbit hole on printers in the $1000ish and under world.
Q2 with a chamber heater is a very good printer. a little bit less beginner friendly then the bambu lab ones. but it is running klipper and more open then bambu. it is a but apple vs android thing in printers land
i am sorry, but do not buy a printer to save money. That often leads to frustration. Do it for the enjoyment, not the monetary value. The printer a good one is between 200 and 500 dollars. You will have (if I remember correctly) 3 rolls of filament probably 60 bucks and your time. Now if you buy a Good Printer, that can lead to time savings, having good prints right away, you buy used or low cost (like my ender and ender clone (I do not recommmend that, if you look in our forums there are recommended printers) you will have a fit trying to learn and do.
If you want to get running right away and have no problems, skip the printer, buy the parts.
if on the other hand, diy is you and you will use the printer for other things, that is a very different story, but please do not do it for cost.
Ryan does not charge anywhere to what others would charge for printed parts and you can be guaranteed they are right the first time!
There have been a batch of the Bambu A series printers that have spontaneously caught fire, I wouldn’t recommend anything in the A series for that alone. They have probably fixed the issues, whether it’s bad capacitors or otherwise - but you will never know until it get a little too toasty. Look up for reports on this, not worth it.
i thought they fixed it.
every printer is a fire risk unfortunately. I do not leave them unattended for long time. not as scary as a cnc but if the mosfet controlling the hotend shorts then you are stuffed
I’m not doing it to save money, I was curious about the savings to extend the CNC budget with the wife. I am interested in 3D printing in general. I have some projects already dreamed up.
looking at maybe an H2C? I’ll keep watching the you tube vids.