Just received my bundle of lowrider2 parts, the printed parts, and started building the sub assemblies while I wait for the flat parts to arrive from kinetic concepts. Super pleased with the quality so far!
I have a woodworking shop, and a lovely industrial shelving unit that I’ve decided would be the ideal location for my lowrider2 ( the unit being 96"long x 36" deep x 96"high), so now I have to problem solve how I will make it work. I’ll need to unload the unit and provide enough room between it and the wall for the side assemblies to have clearance. While I’m at it, I’m going to need to figure the height clearance, does anyone have this info if I want my z to travel 3.5" total and I do have the 611 DeWalt. I might build it out fully and measure the height before moving the shelves to their final height, as I would hate to have to reconfigure again.
Still working out where to source the stainless tubes locally, as the ones I’ve found are too thin (curtain rods from a second hand building materials store) seems to be 1/32nd thick and while I’ve been tempted to try it, I know it’s probably not worth wasting the time on. But I do wonder that if said rod has a mating rod inside, as this one does, would that help mitigate the sag, or is it more the deformation of the thin walls that will rule it out?
Anyway, I’ll update as the build progresses this week.
Pictured below are my sub assemblies, the shelf updisedown on my workbench, and the shelving unit
The top of the 611 will be the highest point. So the tool height + endmill stick out + Max material height.
Won’t work, the point load of the bearings will crush the tube on the first assembly and will never hold up. I actually bought and tried them just in case.
Sourced my local SS tubing today! And happily my flat parts also arrived this morning.
In regards to the tubing, I’ve read a lot of 304 tubing being mentioned in the forum, but when I called a metal supplier, the guy on the other end of the line suggested ornamental tubing instead, so I’m posting my receipt if anyone needs the tube name when searching. It was half the price of 304 tubing. I paid 43 bucks for 10 feet, and they actually had 20 foot lengths.
Tomorrow this cnc build is going to make big progress!
The 10’ tube just fit into my ford escape. I asked a metal worker in my shop’s building if he could cut the tube, should be ready soon.
Meanwhile I added the flat parts to my subassemblies and wow things are shaping up. Love the look of the acrylic from kinetech concepts- thought it would be black, but looks pretty awesome in clear.
Fired up my ended 3 and printed the LCD case.
Emptied out the shelving unit that will be home to my lowrider2 and huffed and puffed until I tugged it I to it's new orientation. Also changed the height of ihe shelf the lowrider will live on.
Mistake #1. I had somehow underestimated my tubing length, so I won’t get the maximum z travel that I wanted. Still should be sufficient until I get around to replacing the z tubes. At least I didn’t comprise on x and y.
Mistake #2. I didn’t realize the max thickness of the table was directly referencing off the side assembly and the clearance it needs. My shelving girder alone is 3 1/4" meaning the shelf on top of that brings it to just over 4". I’ve decided to just rout the edges to bring the thickness down and add some thin aluminium bar for the wheels to ride on. And my spoil board might be as thin as 1/4" until I change out the z tubes.
Aside from those annoyances, I added some supports to the shelf, and then made sure it was level along the x to rule out twist.
I got my tubing back late yesterday so was able to do a test fit of the parts. Super encouraging!
Very good point about the carriage being clear Barry!
And thanks Ryan, everyone I’ve shown the cnc to in the building has been amazed by it’s design and quality.
Problem solving continued yesterday. I nixed the plan to keep the existing plywood shelf as I saw the potential for too many other problems and stopped by home Depot and picked up 5/8"MDF and some 2x4s, also 1/4" hardboard that will act as my spoil board.
I had home Depot cut it to the width so it would fit on my roof rack easily, and I cut it to length.
Next I ripped the 2x4s down the middle on my band saw and cleaned up the edges on the table saw.
All that to say I now have a new shelf / table that has a max thickness of 3 7/8" so now I can fit my side assemblies onto the table!
Also had a print that toppled over so I had to save it. Today I’m hoping for smooth sailing. Perhaps wishful thinking!
Finally the time came to fit the lowrider onto the table. I left one side assembly attached to the gantry and hooked it over one side of the table, then fit on the final side. Couldn’t believe how smooth and effortlessly the rolling action was at this stage- before adding the belts.
Added the belt to the x first. Then added the belts to the y reluctantly. I had been stalling because my end stops had to be screwed into metal. But actually, it ended up being just a minor annoyance. Except that I had to borrow a right angle attachment for my drill to fit between the wall and table.
Yesterday I cut the aluminum angle, and attached it.
Next was the super exciting step of wiring because testing was just around the corner.
I had meant to buy wire covering with the bundle and am kicking myself for forgetting because it was a chore to track some down and it was less ideal and more costly.
Anyway the moment of truth was sweet, the machine started and I was able to move each axis properly. Only thing is I asked the z to go higher than my tubes, so had to cut the powerpand fit the tubes back down through the side assemblies. Is there a way to implement a hard stop to prevent this?
Today I loaded up an ad card with the test crown but also lots of other files to test. I can’t wait!
Yeah but you will probably never make that mistake again, and it really doesn’t hurt anything if you do. In my opinion it is not worth the hassle and possible future failure point.
My tests revealed that all of my axis needed flipping at the board.
Third try was the charm, although I still have to flip the x and y. I flipped the z.
Super happy with the crown, so tomorrow I will mill. Today was more about learning the software, finalizing cable management, dust extraction, and getting the waste board down.
I just remembered I’ve been wondering where to attach my mini rambo, do I just drill some holes in the side assembly? Don’t seem to see it in any of the plans or renderings.
Well that is one hell of a first cut, it looks great.
Those 4 tries…happens all the time. You might want to make a checklist of things to look at before making chips. Depth, tabs, speed, etc. Like AvE has on his big mill, we tend to get excited and skip steps.
Made my first commission for a sign maker in 5mm acrylic. Had to sit by the cut and blow the chips out- stressful and a pain. But it paid off. Thinking of adding a blower ( aquarium pump).
The learning curve is super steep for each new cutter and material, but that means I’ve made crazy progress, and sped up the troubleshooting on my machine.
Still have to figure out some squaring issue but already solved a stepping and a code issue.
One of the pics shows a knife box I’m developing for a knife maker.
Last pic shows where I finally attached the mini rambo.
