So many Texas (re)builds! I’m upgrading/rebuilding but dropping an inch on each dimension, so about 46"x26". Taking this as an excuse to upgrade to 1" DOM too
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The tubes here come in 2m lengths(Biltema). They are quite sturdy. Therefore I’ve been thinking about making x and y 1m, (40"), with a low Z as possible. That would give me about 700mm(28") workarea. I’m not sure if it’s too big or not. I would love to have some space and to maximize the potential in my small workshop. What do you think? Is it too much?
I had a 4’x4’ mpcnc for a while and it worked just fine for me. I shrunk it just to reclaim the space and because I only needed it that large for a one off project.
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I’m gonna use the same ones, I think I will be going for a cutting area of around 900x900 mm and 220 mm on the z.
Wait! What? Tool changer?! Haven’t run across that yet. Is that manual or automated?
Automated: Automatic Tool Changer
I never got around to parameterizing it, so it only fits the Burly 23.5mm “C” size. Now more than ever it needs a refresh.
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My Burly has a 2’ (~600mm) x 3’ (~900mm) work area, and I am upgrading it to a Primo.
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Current plan is to build a 2’ x 2’ cut area Primo
Awesome! Now I need to rethink my table design. Currently targeting a 24”x24”x3.5” cut volume and was already planning on having a drop table for future functionality and to increase Z but now I’m thinking I may want to increase my Y to accommodate a tool changer. I can add a second set of supports to improve X & Y rail stiffness but don’t think I can do much for the Core rails.
Have you made anymore progress on the tool changer? The last post was awhile back.
No, I haven’t worked on it lately. The issues I’m aware of are:
- Not parametric for different build sizes. This is especially an issue now.
- The cleats are under a pretty heavy load and they tend to break.
- I would like electrical contact through the tool mount to enable touch probes, 3D printer extruders, or tool on/off in a scalable way. (Scaling to a large number of tools is not on the horizon for me practically but it ‘feels right’ to implement it that way.)
I have tried to figure out if there is some way to mount a turret to enable multiple tools without consuming too much XY workspace, but I haven’t figured out how to do it without tangling up the power cords. (And I’m not comfortable sending 110V through the electrical contact on the tool mount.) There’s plenty of room for innovation in this area if you have any good ideas.
I’m actually planning to rebuild my MPCNC Burly into a Primo and downsize it. It’s currently got a 3ft by 5ft footprint, and I’ve decided that is too large to manage. Plus, I have only ever used that full size once. New build is aiming for a 24x24 in work area.
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Would recommend to get stainless from a boat supplier. Then you dont need extra support. I paid about 1500NOK for the parts, about same size as your build. And all boat firms got the 25mm in stock this time of year. But again the Biltema is almost no cost compared 
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Well hello there, fellow Norwegian! Velkommen hit
Thanks for the great tip. I’ve called to all the local steel supliers(Tromsø), and none of them had 25mm pipes in stock. They could order from their central supliers, but that takes time, and is probably quite costly.
But I wonder - do you recommend SS because of the rigidity only, or also the rust protection? I keep the cnc in a heated shed, so I don’t need to worry about rust. But I want it to be rigid! From Ryans size recommendations, he suggests that anything OVER 1m should have mid-span support. I think that with keeping a short Z, an being just within 1m for the tubes, I might be on the safe side. My current MPCNC is about 60x70cm (tube length). That gives me 433*337 work area. I would very much like to increase that a bit. The biltema pipe seems very stiff as by now.
The steel is polished, smooth and stronger. I have a 800x800mm work surface and when I apply force in center at one side. There is not a single mm movement from the steel. It cost more, but I like the feel of the steel. I prob went a little overboard with my build, using high quality ball bearing that cost a total of 200$. and so on
You got them from kulelager24? I contacted them, and they only wanted to sell me their priciest type. Ordered twice from China and got bad quality. Ordered from Ryan, still relatively cheap, but sufficient quality.
Going to go with 24"x24"x3.5or4" not sure on the z yet.
Was thinking of building my bench 48"x48" with the plans of enclosing it in the future. This is my first build. Is an enclosure a good thing to plan for?
I really like my enclosure. It helps keep down the dust and the noise. I have mine built “ground floor” with my laser engraver on top of it. It works out to be the same height as the bandsaw table, so it’s a good out feed for that too.
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Hi,
As a start I choose 1mx1m, thinking I have too much project around to get time to built a bigger one if needed.
The result is I have everything to start, but the table… neither time to build one
My first table was a piece of MDF sitting on two saw horses.
And I should do the same or spend decade with stuff waiting on a shelf!
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