Ok kinda a different idea here. You think it would be possible to build a low rider with multiple heads that work on one table. Hear me out, I have a need for a 16 ft long flattening cnc for large slabs of solid wood, but only need it occasionally currently, I have use for a 4x8 or 4x4 machine much more often. Could you build out a 4x18’ table (extra room for storage of the extra heads), and use it as a 4x16, or 2-4x8 or even have a third that was a lazer and use say a 4x4 area, in three different segments of the 4x18 table.
I don’t remember who… but I think it’s been done before with 2 LR3s
You could even get clever and use it for multi tool without manual changes. If you were as lazy as I am, anyway.
I’ve definitely been considering it since I need the full 8ft length very rarely… Set one up to home to Y max not Y min and you don’t even need to home them against each other like the dual core style
Not sure if it’d be too much force on the Y belts, or if there could be some weirdness where the motion of one affects the other?
I’m still in the process of building the first one so not even sure if I would ever get this far, but this idea also crossed my mind. I would prefer the other lowrider to be mirrored, so both tool heads are towards inside, but only due to looks. I don’t think that would add any functionality, maybe even limit the working area.
The Y belts is what concerns me. I think there would be more slack in them due to more pulleys and maybe even more force applied, if both steppers on the same belt pulls in different directions. I think the safest option would be to adapt a second, parallel set of Y belts, something like the LR3 one set with regular belts, one set with the hidden belt mod. But this is based on feelings, not data.
There are definitely possibilities for multiple machines on a single table, but before going there, what benefit are you hoping to get compared to just having a single large machine and only using a portion of the workspace?
I think there are many use cases for each of us.
My main ones would include keeping laser on one, router on other, that would eliminate my current laser space, freeing up the garage. And yes, swapping heads is possible, but if you need to switch frequently it can become tiresome.
Also, if one lowrider can make me part X in 1 hour and I need 6 parts, it’s either 2 day operation after work hours, or a single evening if 2 axis are CNCing away. I can’t be really noisy after 8 max 9 pm, but that is only if I would even get to a point where something is that time critical. Also, I have aimed for ridiculous table size, so a lot of frequently unused space.
I share the concerns about the Y belts being that long. After maybe 10 feet I can see that being an issue. I question if a Lowrider is even appropriate for flattening 16 foot boards.
Having 2 LR4s on a table wouldn’t be bad. For Y squaring, you could home one to one end and one to the other. For these reasons, I think having 3 would be a problem. Maybe you could home the closest one, then home the second one to that one, and so on. Although, for flattening, Y being square isn’t too important.
You could probably also run parallel rails so there’s an outer one and an inner one. If you do that, 3 is probably achievable if one doesn’t use the full length.
If you’re cutting multiple of the same thing at once and using less than half of available X, you could have 2 cores doing the same at once.
Either way, you’ll have to do a bit of a dance to make it work but there are possibilities.