I am looking into building a mpcnc. A majority of what I will be doing is small projects. However, I would have some occasional projects that would require a larger cutting area. These would not have to have nearly the precision I would expect from a smaller rail system. Is it practical to build two different cutting platforms and move the control board and cutting device back and forth? This would be for hobby so if it takes a little bit of time that is ok just don’t want to spend an hour or more each time to swap out.
Assuming a dual-end-stop setup and a touch plate, you will have 32 conductors that you must wire correctly, so the real challenge will be coming up with a plug system that easily allows you to move these conductors from one machine to another and correctly plug them in.
Note in this approach, the only thing you are saving is the cost of the control board, and there are cheap control board solutions. the cheaper solutions tend to be more delicate. So as an alternate solution, put a robust control board on the machine you mostly use like a Rambo board and put a cheap control board on the machine you use occasionally like say a Ramps 1.4 board. The Rambo board with display will run $140 USD from V1. The Ramps 1.4 board with display runs $38 on Amazon. You probably will spend at least $20 USD on the connectors for swapping the control board, so there is just a marginal difference between swapping and a second control board. And the Rambo and Ramps run the same microcontroller, so the quality of the cutting should be the same.
Depending on your needed precision, and what you mean by bigger, there is a third approach. Make the machine adjustable with things like swappable legs, spoil boards of different heights, a drop table, mid-span supports, etc.
My two main items I know of that I may be utilizing it for would be some plaques that would be 2’x2’ max but also making some reindeer like in the wind field collection catalog. (It’s 15’tall assembled) but cuts out full sheets of plywood. I have many other home projects and am in school while working full time so the speed of the cutting is not that big of an issue. I can work on homework to the buzz of a router. If there is an option to keep the precision of a smaller area Cnc and make one big enough for full sheets I’ll gladly go that direction. (Also, it seems like an easier sell to my wife that I’m just building two different size “bases” than two different CNc’s. Lol)
With that big a size difference, you are looking at two different machines. The Ryan’s LowRider is designed for sheet goods. His MPCNC Primo for smaller milling. According to people on the forum that know both machines, the break even point is around 3’ x 3’. Projects less than this figure benefit from the Primo, larger benefit from the LowRider. Note that these two machines run slightly different firmware configurations, so if you were going to try and share a control board, you would need to re-flash the firmware with every swap. I’ve seen some innovative table designs, so it is possible you could have the Primo live under, on, or over the LowRider. And if combined, you might share things like the power supply, emergency stop, and vacuum.
While it is a bit of a pain and a potential source of error, it is possible to design your Primo in such a way you can use indexing pegs to mill things either longer or wider than your spoil board.
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You definitely can swap the controller between the two machines. You may need to change the firmware between them, since the axis that is doubled is different. The LR has two Z motors and the MPCNC has two X and two Y. The SKR Pro is the easiest to flash. So that wouldn’t be a deal breaker.
The router mounts are different. The MPCNC is usually the DW 660 and the LR is the DW 611. I think there is a DW611 mount for the MPCNC or maybe the makita would work in both.
I would build the MPCNC first. But get the skr pro board and do the research for the makita or DW 611 router for both machines. Then you can look through the build instructions to see what is involved with the wiring. After you get the MPCNC and you start making a mess, you will learn real quick and the low rider build, and the kind of work you can do with it will be pretty clear.
Just as another idea. You can cut small things like 2’x2’ signs on the LR. The kind of projects where a 24"x24"x3" MPCNC would be stronger is anything with tricky materials, like aluminum, or precise Z depth things, like large carves or 3D carvings. The LR will be able to make through cuts as well or better (faster) at any size than the MPCNC.
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Hi,
I built my machine that I can reduce the size just by loosening 3 screws. I can slide the right rail towards the inside and clamp it on the X rail. You need different belt holders/tensioners, fixed on the tube, not on the corner pieces.
See here: Toolmaker build from germany.
Also I plan to make a design, where I have a removeable stud under this connection.