I have eventually managed to iron out all of the problems I’ve had with my build, and am absolutely delighted with the Lowrider. Ryan is an absolute genius. The design of this system is exceptional.
Living in the UK, I found it very difficult to source the parts needed. I would have preferred to purchase the kit from V1E, however the shipping was going to be > $100, along with the lack of availability on the shop and the time taken for delivery, I decided to source everything via Amazon and eBay.
I decided to go for a 570mm x 1m print area (to match the Loft boards that I was going to use as a base. I also decided that I would be installing a laser, to allow me to do away with the Frankenstein Laser I had already built (it started life as an Ortur LM1, and ended up being extended to a 500mm x 800mm 40w system).
So I set off ordering and printing the printable parts. (it took me 2 weeks to print everything, using my Creality Ender 3 and Flashforge Adventurer 3 going at it together 24/7). Here are the list of ordered parts with UK links:
| QTY | Description | Comment | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Control Board | 5 driver minimum | eBay |
| 5 | Steppers, Nema17 | 20mm+ shaft length | Amazon |
| 3 | stepper wire extenders | Amazon | |
| 3 | Pulleys 16T 10mm | 10mm GT2 16 Tooth | Amazon |
| 6 | Idlers Smooth 20T | 20T Smooth 5mm Bore | Amazon |
| 8M | Belt GT2 10mm | See Calculator, no steel belt | Amazon |
| 5 | Endstops | Amazon | |
| 14 | 608-2RS Bearings | Amazon | |
| 2 | T8 Leadscrew & nut | 110mm or larger | Amazon |
| 2 | Coupler | 8mm to 5mm | Amazon |
| 4 | Linear rails MGN | MGN12H 150mm | Amazon |
| 1 | Power Supply | 12-36V Board dependant 36W+ | Amazon |
| * | Thread locker | Optional for grubs screws | Amazon |
| * | Lube | Optional for idlers and linear rails | Amazon |
| * | Vac Hose | Optional any 1.5” OD Vacuum hose should work | Amazon |
Other items:-
25mm galvanised conduit As much as you need, comes in 3m lengths Screwfix
Connectors, crimps and wires Useful Amazon
Crimping tool Amazon
Drag chain Amazon
Relay module Relay module for switching Router off from fan output on board Amazon
Cat5 USB extender For noise free connection to PC Amazon
Make sure that you order the correct drivers to go with the BTT SKR Pro. It took me 2 weeks and a lot of frustrations before realising that I’d mistakenly ordered TMC2008 drivers instead of TMC2009’s. This caused all sorts of subtle and weird issues.
Another issue I had was random odd movement in the wrong direction. I eventually tracked this down to noise generated by my vacuum or the router starting. I was using a 5m USB cable to connect to my PC (running Repetier Host). I swapped this for a CAT5 USB extender, which solved all these issues.
Adding the laser was a challenge, but after searching the forums, I managed to figure it out. The laser I’m using is a Lasertree 40w diode from AliExpress.
I have settled on Carveco Maker
as my CAM software (I found EstlCAM not very intuitive for a newbie) and Lightburn for the laser.
Overall I’m absolutely delighted, and now just need to get some experience with 3D CNC. In particular, I’m trying to figure out schemes for carving guitars (2 sided).
