Upgrade from MPCNC (burly I think)

LowRider CNC Advice
1

I’m considering changing from an older MPCNC, I honestly don’t know how big I want it to be, but I’m trying to figure out two things…

  1. What hardware can I scavenge from my MPCNC (Burly, w/Rambo I think)
  2. I’m not sure how big I want it… I was thinking of making the gantry the standard 4’, but making the y only 2 feet to start, and it’s likely easier to modify that rail after if I want to expand to 4x4 or 4x8? Or will that lead to issues?
2

First of all: go for a LR4. There are no drawbacks and it scales easily.

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3

You should be able to reuse all 5 motors, any end-stop switches, and lots of the bearings from the Burly. The controller may also be reusable, depending on which one was used. I’ve already purchased a new Jackpot board to update my Burly, but I used a non-standard CNC Shield on mine years ago because it is what I had on hand. Whether you can re-use the wiring will come down to how long the current motor extension are and whether they’re wired for series (which will be the case if the machine can’t auto-square, i.e. only a single driver runs both X motors and another one drives both Y motors).

If getting the hardware kit from the V1 store isn’t an option , I’d sort the nuts/washers/bolts and bearings you take the Burly apart and compare that inventory to the LR4 BOM and just get what you need locally. I sourced my hardware from Fastenal because we had one in town but you could also hit Granger or McMaster Carr to fill the gaps.

Edit to add: Burly used 6mm belts, LR 4 uses 10mm belts, so pulleys and idlers won’t transfer to the new build.

4

If I can use the motors and rambo board, that will make life a lot easier. I should be able to easily source pulleys, wires, nuts and bolts easy enough.

5

Even if you decide to go with the LowRider, you can still reuse the nuts, bolts, and bearings.

6

Be sure you’ve got he full Rambo and no the mini. The full Rambo has 5 drivers so should be fine for the LR4. There is also a mini-Rambo with 3 drivers, which isn’t enough for the lowrider.

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