I’m using an MPCNC for around 2 years now and even though I learned quite a lot, the fact that the MPCNC is not very rigid is causing a lot of trouble for me. I can neither go as fast nor as deep as I would like to go and especially having to cut only 1-2mm deep each cut seems to be kind of bad for my mills.
Now I was thinking about different options (and even came close to pulling the trigger on a workbee) when I came across the Root 4 Lite. The fact that I can reuse some parts from my MPCNC makes it very affordable and to me (remember: only 2 years of light CNC experience) the Root 4 Lite looks like it could provide some quality of life improvements.
Note: I’d like to scale it to a work area of 60x40cm max, maybe a little smaller.
So what is your experience? Will the upgrade from MPCNC to Root 4 Lite bring the needed improvement in rigidity? Or should I go for a Root 4 (or even something commercial) instead?
Not sure how many MPCC to Root CNC conversions we have in the community. I’m a learner Root 4 Lite user and very happy with how the build went and how rigid the platform is. I only need small work area, so my baby has 450mm ballscrews and x/y max working area of 274/330mm. It really is built like a tank, as you can probably see from pics.
From lurking on the MPCNC forums on and off for years, they do get posts like your own about rigidity concerns. First thing might be posting there and asking for options before you give up on the MPCNC totally? It could be you’ve gone a bit big in X/Y/Z. Extra Z depth on the MPCNC in particularlseems to leave the door open for less bit rigidity. I gather if properly configured and once powered up the MPCNC gantry shouldn’t have a lot of movement. Also need to check rail mounts and for cracks in parts in the Z carriage area. Anyhow, best to ask the MPCNC team first.
Back to R4Lite. You can look at sizing options using Pete’s spreadsheet here:
600x400mm should be fine for rigidity. I think Pete recommends Root 4 (the larger, stronger, more expensive machine) when people are getting up towards 750-1000mm in any axis. Remember with R4L you have the option to possibly slide large jobs back and forth in the Y dimension depending on baseboard and mounting options.
I’m constantly finding little things in the design and execution in R4L that show how well thought out the 3d printed parts are - nothing flimsy, plenty of rigidity in parts and how they screw/fit in.
You’re probably very aware, but dialing in bits, feed rates, chip clearing etc is a never ending learning curve for CNC. People here should be able to give advice on bits and speeds depending on what and how you’re cutting. My work is mainly on acryllic and its amazing how a bit more or less speed, different bits, clearing paths etc changes the sound, vibration and quality of the cuts.