So if I could fine 1 inch (outside diameter) wood dowels would there be issues with using them just for the legs? I initially cut my legs too long then cut them down but now I am thinking I might need them a bit longer. I don’t have any scraps leftover long enough to cut 4 new legs and really don’t want to have to order a new stick of steel for this.
For reference I am only trying to do a 3-4 inch height so the legs are not very long.
Thoughts…
Just put a block of wood under the the feet to raise it up.
Like this.
Or cut out a section of your spoilboard to lower your workpiece.
I could be looking at possibly an inch of difference. Also, I am pretty happy with the squareness of the feet of my build and don’t want to disturb them if I don’t have to. Was just curious if there would be any lost rigidity/stiffness that would affect things. With the legs being so short and dowels being solid of course I figured any loss in strength from steel to wood would be made up in it being solid.
I might give it a try and report back what I find.
Hmmm… The “Bo-Staff CNC”… Might work for very small Z-heights, but wood gets bendy pretty quick.
I am only thinking like 4" or so leg lengths.
Wood is also more likely to crush than steel, and a lot of it, especially the stuff I see dowels made of, SEEMS to be softer than pla, so more likely to deform (not an engineer, though).
That said, I’m convinced that most of the flex in the mpcnc is from everything BUT the legs, so it’s a good chance you won’t even notice.
I’d still prefer blocking wood under the feet, personally, but think I’ve seen a printed leg, even. If you only need a small amount of extra length, you might even be able to add a spacer in one or both ends of the tube.
My second choice would be whatever the you can find cheapest with with correct OD. The legs are so short that it doesn’t have to be Dom or stainless. I bet even aluminum would be ok there. Scrap bins are your friends.
You could also cut a small dowel or print a spacer to drop down inside the foot to put your current leg on
I bet it would be fine. The legs have the least stress
I assumed they had the least stress as well and why I even contemplated it. At $4 for a 4ft 1in OD Wood Dowel I will probably pick one up and give it a go.
Thanks everyone for the feedback and input.