This is a machine my friend is actually building. I think I can convince him to build just stock… but he is difficult.
You get two 1000 rails for $94AU from that listing.
It’s a brand of ACM called alucobond. It’s 4mm thick and is just incredibly sastisfying to machine. One side is uncoated and one is black.
That’s fine, just had to be clear because there are plenty of times where people ask for these things, so it’s hard to tell sometimes.
But you need 4 rails for that design right?
So a full sheet build would need 2 ~1250mm rails for X, and 2 ~2500mm rails for Y. Plus extrusion costs.
So you can easily add $250-$300 in cost. That is, what, +50% of the stock machine cost? I’m not sure if you’d get +50% performance or not.
I think the other issue is that once you get a price tag over $1,000, you start competing with a different class of machine, and then the value proposition gets a little different when you start weighing options on what you want for the price.
I know you said you were joking, so this is more of just a general follow-up/justification for any that see that and want it 
I remember that Jeff has helped me many times with his advice when building my LR2. I have notes in my notebook that say “Jeff recommends…” And I think something similar. I don’t have anything specific why I should jump from my LR2 to an LR4. Just the fact of playing again to build a new machine. At the end of the day I consider them toys for adult people. And I love seeing how fast and stiff the LR4 is.
Literally same for me, I was excited lurking all summer but busy with the property, been cutting slabs from trees fallen and drying them to play all winter! Looks like I’ll have to build a V4 hopefully though!
Will it only be admissible with 29.5 mm pipes? Here in Argentina, the most common thing for galvanized pipes is for the measurement to go from 25.4 (1") to 31.75 (1" 1/4"). I hope it can be adapted in some way.
I believe the plan is to support 29.5mm-32mm pipe.
@vicious1 did research ahead of time to find sizes that were available to accommodate as many different regions as possible
All details are subject to change until official release, but I think that’s where it stands at the moment.
Can’t wait to see the build list, excited for this project, the betas are moving so fast!
I have two posts from March which I will cut and paste here for your info, I’m sorry for whatever reason I can’t reduce the image size from the cut and paste :
[quote=“jeffeb3, post:301, topic:40835”]
Woodworkers make pipe clamps from the black pipes. They are heavy duty. Are they consistent at all internationally?
[/quote]
They should be, but I think I am correct in saying black pipe comes primed here , and black pipe is just not feasible because they’d rust in a minute so the woodwork shops sell gal pipe for that purpose.
From a quick internet search 1" OD is by far the most consistent size to source across a broad range of retailers. The three images above are from major national chains.
A marine shop SS tube @ $22.00 per metre (2m lengths)
Our only “Lowes” style big box hardware store(Bunnings) Gal Tube @ $7.50 per metre but in 3m lengths
Primed steel pipe @ $10.00 per metre.
Note I bought my polished SS tube from a balustrade supplier for close to the cost of the primed pipe, cut to size so no waste, only paying for what I needed. They also ship nationally.
@vicious1 at the moment at least, I find it hard to believe there’s a supply problem for 25.4mm OD / 1" in Aus, and I know lots have used the Bunnings Gal tube.
[quote=“vicious1, post:305, topic:40835”]
What is the next size up? I am trying to go one size above the current 25.4mm.
[/quote]
If anyone else here is from Aus, please feel free to correct me if you have a different source.
There’s no one-size fits all - but nominally 31.8 (31.75) seems to be available - I am looking at our “Bunnings” because most Aus builders have access to them, and there will almost certainly be trade stockists who can supply. Price for 3m lengths
My SS balustrade supplier also has stock in that size. They do ship around the country, but there will be lots of others - it’s just not intuitive for many to search “stainless steel balustrade solutions” when looking for parts for a CNC! Price per metre cut to length.
“Black” pipe from a plumbing supplier gets very confusing - a 33.7mm OD pipe has a 25mm threaded end!
I will pay them a visit next week and see what I can find out over-the-counter, (6.5 m length)
“My” supplier referenced above is Wellington Enterprises - bought initially through an eBay listing - but they have a real factory and will ship Australia Wide.
https://wellingtonenterprises.com.au
Well, I’m using this size with 32mm parts, and so far, it seems good. The Y rail is a touch loose in the clips, it can be easily spun, and can move in between the Y belt holders a little, but this seems not to cause motion problems. It’s more of a fudge than I’d ideally like. That 0.25mm difference is apparent.
I’m sorry to be confusing several discussions now - that is probably more useful feedback on the beta forum.
I provided this info on availability at the very beginning of the “research” phase, and now just to answer @alumunum Echo Sierra’s question as to the kinds of supplies available in the Antipodes.
That is pretty odd. Make sure to set your hold and homing amps the same and report back if they get above 45-50C
I’m just now, for the RC2 version, finally getting the peel and stick temp sensors attached to the motors. So going forward I will have a better handle on this.
mine came off the y track about 5 times so far… every single time it was related to my gcode and my misunderstanding of how it was supposed to work. Not arguing with anyone just wanted this posted since Ryan hadn’t heard of this and other lurkers might read that. 100% of the time this happened it was my fault for not understanding the software portion of these projects.
Thank you for this. You are right I haven’t thought to search for balustrade, and it does seem to offer some nice options. Great resource. I have been looking at steel suppliers, scrap yards and Bunnings.
I’m not sure how your gcode would make it derail.
If a feed rate is too fast, and the bit bogs down on the non-rail side, causing the Y stepper on the non-rail side to skip steps continually, while the Y stepper on the rail side keeps going, it could ride the rail side assembly into an escalating twist up off the rail. I could see this being attributed to gcode / programming error. ?
Plumbing suppliers like Reece are another place and specialist gas and fire equipment companies too.
My specific issues was learning fusion and it drying to drill DEEP into the wood and table and doing a wheelie so bad before I stopped it, it popped off.
Yeah, that will happen. IIRC most drilling toolpaths will step in and out to clear chips but you still want a slower plunge.
