I know the standard advice is to make Y the longest axis. But I’m considering building a LR4 with 4’ in the X axis and maybe 2’ in the Y axis. This would give me a compact machine that would suffice for most of what I want to do, while also allowing me to cut full sheets in multiple operations by indexing them through. For these full-sheet jobs I would roll the machine out to an open area and use sawhorses or roller stands for outfeed (exact details tbd).
Thoughts? I know some commercial small-shop CNCs are designed this way, but has anyone tried it on a LowRider?
Yes, it works. I have mine like that as well and you can even do super tiny stuff with it if you know what you are doing. I’ve never cut a full sheet with it yet though…
The official recommendation is not to do it though, you are definitely going to lose some stiffness.
this is something that has come up twice while I have been considering building a smaller second table with stubby Y axis. I have the full table with 97" (and a little bit extra) set up, but unless I am working on a full sheet specifically it is wasting a ton of room in my limited shop. I could stick the machine on a 32" deep bench I have and it would still basically cut a 1/4 sheet of ply. Its a good idea, but has its drawbacks. @vicious1 really wants people to try and stick to the “yellow brick road” method of sticking to the plan first then changing things. I agree with him that it makes for less abandonded projects. But sometimes you just cant do it that way and this is something I feel has been done enough that there is more than sufficient info on here to get people through that hurdle.
The first issue you will run into is that you cant really cut your strut plates the same way. but you already mentioned indexing and moving to get longer cuts, so you have the answer right there.
The real question is are you just leaving the option open or do you think you will actually need it. If you do 99% of your cuts in a 2’x4’ area you are sacrificing a whole lot of speed just to maybe have the option later. You can just as easily make a giant part connect with multiple pieces.
My goal is for people to build a great machine. Not to be an inconvenience. we have been at this a long time. And aout of the thousands and thousands of builds I have seen like 3 actually use a full sheet cut.
For me personally, I have a ton of shop space and still use a 1/4 sheet machine (the stiff direction). I have no issue ripping a sheet into 4 pieces on my tailgate in 2 minutes rather than wrestle sheets around in my shop. With that said my project are not any bigger than that. Also I do more aluminum that I will every need a full sheet single piece cut. I value the rigidity far more than the size.
Every person is different but for the countess people that did not listen to me about building MPCNC’s smaller by far the largest updates you will see about mpcnc rebuilds is “I am building it far smaller this time”…
What would you say is the practical difference in performance between a 2’ vs 3’ vs 4’ gantry for aluminum? And does it make a significant difference on wood as well?
