Has anyone tried making a MPCNC??

[thriller007]

I am on a new project now. A MPCNC - mostly printed cnc.

I am brand new to this so looking forward to learning from all of you experts out there. The only other thing that I have played with is a small 3018 CNC that I made a few signs on. I bought a mostly complete kit that was set up with a kit from v1 Engineering or so I am told. The size is about 3ft x 2ft. It has a printed case for the LCD screen. There was no spindle or mount with this one but I had a new 52MM spindle that I had to upgrade my 3018 with so I printed a mount that should work with that one.

The MPCNC seems to have a lot of play in it. When I try to move it around without having my hand directly in the center I find that it gets cocked at an angle. It is about 6" high as well. I have not hooked it up to a computer yet but the previous owner tried to cut something out for me without a good result yet. He did not have much time on it. He made covers that go over the stepper motors that allow you to just plug in a cable to one end in order to connect the steppers. There are limit switches on both x-axis and one of the Y-axis. I do have a couple of more limit switches to go on the other y-axis and the z-axis.

 

[thriller007]

 

[David]

When I built my PrintNC CNC router there were at least six people in the community who had built a MPCNC first.
They said it's cheap to build and works OK but it doesn't hold tight tolerances.

If you're in the market for a CNC router I think there are better albeit more expensive options out there.
My PrintNC was about $2200-$2500 to build. It is stout as can be holds .001 - .002 tolerances.

 

[thriller007]

What were you cutting with it?

 

[David]

What were you cutting with it?

Wood and aluminum.

 

[phaxtris]

I'm also on the way to a printnc, I'm currently in around the 1500$ mark (with a 2.2kw spindle/VFD) and expect to be around the 2000$ mark when done

I did a plasma with 3d printed parts, and found the same problems, tolerances, I don't think the plastic is rigid enough

For what it's worth (time) the round style linear rails are stiff, accurate, easy to mount/work with, and aperantly are somewhat forgiving with misalignment....and much much cheaper than the square, assuming you are going for a budget option

 

[David]

I'm also on the way to a printnc, I'm currently in around the 1500$ mark (with a 2.2kw spindle/VFD) and expect to be around the 2000$ mark when done

I did a plasma with 3d printed parts, and found the same problems, tolerances, I don't think the plastic is rigid enough

For what it's worth (time) the round style linear rails are stiff, accurate, easy to mount/work with, and aperantly are somewhat forgiving with misalignment....and much much cheaper than the square, assuming you are going for a budget option

Nice, what size are you building?

 

[phaxtris]

Nice, what size are you building?

I struggled with that for a while and ended up just going with the stock size, the size that uses 1 24' length

It's all cut up, I have a bench worth of parts, I just haven't had time to start fabbing stuff.

i haven't totally decided on what to use for the controls, I have mach3 on the plasma, and I don't really like that, was thinking of running the new grbl for the esp 32, fluidNC, what do you run on yours?

What is the OP running for software ?

 

[David]

I struggled with that for a while and ended up just going with the stock size, the size that uses 1 24' length

It's all cut up, I have a bench worth of parts, I just haven't had time to start fabbing stuff.

i haven't totally decided on what to use for the controls, I have mach3 on the plasma, and I don't really like that, was thinking of running the new grbl for the esp 32, fluidNC, what do you run on yours?

What is the OP running for software ?

I think the OP was asking about the MPCNC as a potential purchase.

I tried LinuxCNC and that was a complete failure for me. Then tried grblHAL on a custom board from on the folks on the Discord. I had lots of trouble getting it sorted out and ended up going down the UCCNC route with an AXBB-E board. It's been flawless.

 

[phaxtris]

I think the OP was asking about the MPCNC as a potential purchase.

I think he already has one ?


I'll look into ucnc, I don't want to bother with trying to learn Linux,

 

[David]

I think he already has one ?


I'll look into ucnc, I don't want to bother with trying to learn Linux,

Ahh yes I re-read the original post. My mistake.
I looked at Mach 4 which seemed buggy at that point, Centroid Acorn (mucho dollars). My main criteria was as plug and play as I could get and reasonable support.
UCCNC support from the developers is not super but there's a very active Facebook group which was a major help.

 

[thriller007]

Yes I already have a MPCNC project. Basically I am starting from scratch and pulling everything apart to make it smaller and more rigid. I seem to have a lot of bearing clearance on the trucks and core right now as well.

 

[thriller007]

I'm also on the way to a printnc, I'm currently in around the 1500$ mark (with a 2.2kw spindle/VFD) and expect to be around the 2000$ mark when done

I did a plasma with 3d printed parts, and found the same problems, tolerances, I don't think the plastic is rigid enough

For what it's worth (time) the round style linear rails are stiff, accurate, easy to mount/work with, and aperantly are somewhat forgiving with misalignment....and much much cheaper than the square, assuming you are going for a budget option

Do you have any pictures of your build?

 

[David]

Do you have any pictures of your build?

That's mine. Completely stock just smaller to fit my space. 36" wide x 24" deep. 1.5hp spindle.

 

[phaxtris]

Do you have any pictures of your build?

Here is where I'm at right now, it's not a top priority project so I've just been puttering on it here and there

Now that I'm starting to do a test assembly I'm realizing how big it actually is

Also not sure if the 3a motors are going to be enough, I had them left over from something else, so it's not like I wasted money on to small of motors, so that may need upgrading

 

[David]

Here is where I'm at right now, it's not a top priority project so I've just been puttering on it here and there

Now that I'm starting to do a test assembly I'm realizing how big it actually is

Also not sure if the 3a motors are going to be enough, I had them left over from something else, so it's not like I wasted money on to small of motors, so that may need upgrading

View attachment 33103View attachment 33104View attachment 33105

They are big machines.
Were you planning to run 36v for the steppers?

 

[phaxtris]

They are big machines.
Were you planning to run 36v for the steppers?

ill have to look at what power supply i have, but i believe its a 36v, that might help nurse it along, worst case ill have to order 3 4a motors, im pretty sure 3a will be enough for the spindle

 

[David]

Mine is obviously much smaller but with some tuning and good greasing of the rails and ball nutsI can get 10,000mm/sec out of 24v on the stock steppers.

 

[phaxtris]

What cutting speeds are you normally running for say, plywood? obv the 10,000mm is just for rapids

By the pics i think you have larger motors than i do, myne are only 270oz in, yours look to be the 430oz in ?

did you order a parts kit using the website, or did you piece it together?

this may get thrown on the back burner here pretty quickly, i have some other things coming up that are more weather dependent, and its finally getting nice out...i think...tomorrow may be another story

 

[David]

What cutting speeds are you normally running for say, plywood? obv the 10,000mm is just for rapids

By the pics i think you have larger motors than i do, myne are only 270oz in, yours look to be the 430oz in ?

did you order a parts kit using the website, or did you piece it together?

this may get thrown on the back burner here pretty quickly, i have some other things coming up that are more weather dependent, and its finally getting nice out...i think...tomorrow may be another story

I did the kit from the Aliexpress store so totally stock.
Fastest I have run plywood is 6000mm/sec which is plenty fast for me.