RH1N0s adventures with MPCNC

I am an Austraila based hobbyist who built a MPCNC to compliment my REPRAP Prusa I3 printer. I will update this first post with details of my machine and sources that I find useful.

Machine specifications:
Machine type: MPCNC International Edition.
Print material: ABS plastic.
Pipes: 1000 mm X axis pipes, 800 mm Y axis pipes, 340 mm Z axis pipes, 120 mm leg pipes. All 25.4mm diameter galvanised steel.
Bed size: approx 700 x 500 x 100 mm (a conservative estimate for a range of tool heads).
Build time: approx one month of printing, ordering and gathering followed by 2 days of assembly.

Parts sources:
25.4mm galvanised steel pipe: http://www.bunnings.com.au/metal-mate-25-4-x-1-2-1m-galvanised-steel-round-tube_p1130448
Local source for CNC electronics and hardware: http://stores.ebay.com.au/learcnc/
Local source for fastener hardware: http://stores.ebay.com.au/Fasteners-Galore/
International source for misc parts at lowest prices (but higher risk & slower shipping): www.aliexpress.com

RH1N0s verdict:
The MPCNC is probably the most versatile and cost effective hobby CNC platform I have come across, and an excellent progression from owning a 3D printer. Can’t thank Ryan enough for his efforts and for sharing his design.
I’m glad I decided on building my own REPRAP style 3D printer as the skills and knowledge gained have transferred well to this project.

With the machine in its final stages of assembly, I decided to try some pen plotting. This has been a good way to tune the machine and gain some experience with the new software.

The following pen plot is done with a 0.4mm felt tipped pen on A4 paper. I used Inkscape to generate a vector graphics .dxf file from a .jpeg image, Estlcam to create the toolpath .nc file, and then Repetier-host to generate the .gcode file for loading to the MPCNCs SD card.

I hadn’t spent much time on bed leveling and you will see me make a slight adjustment to the bottom RH leg when I noticed the pen starting to drag.

Nice build RH.

Thank you for the info on materials used and source, will be very helpful for others.

When I first tested my machine I found that a ball point pen, disassembled and a spring added to the ink tube worked great.
This helped until I leveled most components up.

Good luck with it.

Cheers
Greg.

AWESOME!
Thanks for the kind words.

Very nice build mate. Congrats :slight_smile:

I followed Greg’s tip and replaced the felt tip pen with a modified ball point pen. Works a treat!

Spent a day learning about the Traveling Salesman Problem and made the following plot using Stipplegen, Inkscape, Estlcam and Repetier-host.

That is so cool. Stipplegen seems awesome as well. That makes this plotter so much easier to use!