this post was submitted on 03 Jul 2025
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Right now all it has is a plotter adding but I'm also making a mount for a mill and lasercutter. It's meant mostly for making circuit boards but should be able to handle other projects as well.

It's designed in FreeCAD and some parts were sourced from discarded laboratory devices from my job as well as a broken 3D printer.

Here's a link to the FreeCAD in its current form. I'm not happy about Google but this is to be shared for free so it's okay.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TaGmB2l-2IpyjhtpyuxbR6gJtIwyiHvx/view?usp=drivesdk

Right now it's a bit messy but I intend to post it to printables.com later when it's fully done.

The video is sped up 8x. I think it can handle this speed realtime as well.

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[–] philpo@feddit.org 2 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Interesting concept,seems to mitigate some issues of the MPCNC. The Z Axis assembly looks a bit on the weak side, especially for heavier spindles. I see the most problems in CNC builds here,tbh - the Z axis is far more of a problem than the other ones as it tends to destabilize itself due to the lever effect it does suffer from.

BTW: In terms of Google: Why not put the file on something like Github/Launchpad,etc. so others can contribute,comment or fork it?

[–] Rolive@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 7 hours ago

Thanks! Indeed the Z axis rests on only one MGN12H block. For stability it can be changed to two sliders per rail at the cost of work area. For circuit boards and wood it should be strong enough to handle the load.

As for github/launchpad, I never used those before for sharing anything. I will look into those.

[–] madnificent@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I'd like to see the FreeCAD file both in the "a bit messy" form as well as in the cleaned up form.

[–] Shayeta@feddit.org 2 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

Same, I'm also a learning FreeCAD user.

[–] Rolive@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago)

Nice! Once you get the hang of it FreeCAD is quite pleasant to use in my experience. I've updated the OP with a gdrive link.

I've designed it partially by importing step files of commercial parts such as the stepper motors, aluminium extrusions etc. They can be found on sites like grabcad. You can just make a throwaway account there since you need to sign up to download anything. At least it's free...

[–] Rolive@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 22 hours ago

I've updated the OP with a Google drive link.