Building the MPCNC: Parts and component choices!

It's time - the MPCNC (Burly edition) is getting built! In part 1, we check out what component choices I made for the the build, including which spindle, mainboard, frame material and size I'll be live-building over the next few days.
First livestream • Live: Building the MPC...
Parts list go.toms3d.org/mpcnc
V1 Engineering assembly instructions www.v1engineering.com/assembly/
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[@mareksvrcina5279]

I don't usually see such high quality lighting and filming. I love it.

[@Bombtheory]

Printed my MPCNC with my Dolly. Now I'm recutting my Dolly bed frame with my MPCNC! Bootstrap, Inc.

[@MensaboyFilms]

that was exactly what i was going to do :)

[@55yxalaG]

Uses printer to make CNC Uses CNC to upgrade printer Uses upgraded printer to upgrade CNC

[@barry99705]

The steel reinforced belts work harden going around the bearings on this machine and break. That's why we don't use them.

[@RaphisWorkshop]

I didn't even know that could happen, when I first built my MPCNC i used steel reinforced belts, but because they are so stiff you need to tension them so much that the steppers will lose steps...

[@MattWeber]

Yup.. the same reason they fail quickly on 3d printers.The toothed pulley diameter makes the wires break quickly and then the belt can stretch like its just plastic. Why all my printers have been swapped to fiber reinforced during assembly.

[@frumpd63]

Can't wait for this video series! I've been following this project since it came out and looking forward to hearing your feedback on the latest rev.

[@nighthawk2k3rsx]

I just got through upgrading my mpcnc to the burly version. This machine is insanely capable considering its some plastic and conduit. I look forward to the live stream

[@allted]

Well I dared you to build it, glad we didn't bet on it, but I was pretty sure you were not going to build it. I am really not sure how to feel about this....excited...worried. Either way I love seeing everyone's take on this design. I am sure you will have some fun along the way. Can't wait to see that crown!

[@allted]

To try and clear up some of the uncertainties. Steel belted belt, work hardens, the steel breaks and the belts stretch in a matter of hours typically. You end up with some weird distortions in your parts that is kinda hard to track down. It is designed to work with both types of hardware all the holes fit larger metric hardware and all the nut places fit the much larger imperial nuts. It is not the ideal way to do this but keeps me from having to maintaining 6 different sets of parts. You typically only deal with the build once so only minor frustrations. Over the last 4+ years those three rail sizes are what it takes to make it globally sourced. For some it is conduit, some it is tubing, the lucky ones get to choose.

[@rileyfenley522]

Ryan - V1 Engineering Inc That’s really interesting about the steel core belts work hardening, thanks for sharing.

[@fredpinczuk7352]

Ryan, your design as proven itself over the past 2+ years its been released. Tom is late to the game (Better late than never I guess), and his German style lack of enthusiasm is actually true exuberance in his native land.

[@ChimpyChamp]

I don't quite understand the point of this CNC machine, V-Slot rails are just slightly more expensive per meter and surely once you add the cost of the bearings it would be more price effective to go with a V-slot system?

[@cliffchism9187]

Sean Blake Many ways to skin a cat and all engineering is the art of the compromise between cost and benefit. This is the way Ryan chose for this project and this is the way that met his design criteria. I paid 18 dollars for the bearings with 8 spares. He used a different method in another CNC project he designed. This design is surprisingly accurate and robust for its limitations, with some even cutting steel with it.

[@ThantiK]

I've always thought you needed to branch out into different projects like this. I've got lots of the parts for this too, maybe this'll get me started on it again! Thanks Tom!

[@goguen55]

Built mine a few months back, very happy with it

[@MarionMakarewicz]

Oh, I so wish you would have done this earlier. I just finished mine and I know your build video would have helped me tremendously. Wonderful! Always great videos.

[@AustinVojta]

The filming setup truly looks incredible. I just got a 4K monitor and this is a treat to watch. Same for the B-roll with the gliding shots.... super nice! Keep it up, Tom.

[@garyainslie8200]

Man your videos are always so damn good. You are my go to when I need a deeper view or more detail. I hope you know how much you help us all. Fantastic work as always. You are appreciated.

[@PetterBruland]

Thanks for a great surprise video. Really looking forward to the live stream. Thank you.

[@chiparooo]

Cool! Looking forward to the series.

[@EyeballsStudio]

I'm planning to build one as well, looking forward to the rest of the build!

[@mobilenippy]

Jetzt wo ich angefangen habe meine MPCNC zu drucken, kommt dein Projekt wie gerufen 😍

[@lef149]

I'm glad you are doing this. This will be a future project of mine.

[@Manxer]

Look'n forward to this, it's been on my to do list for quite some time, just waiting for the physical space to free up.

[@spikekent]

Looking forward to it Tom. Although I have no plans for a CNC, I always enjoy you project builds. See you tomorrow.

[@wsturner88]

I am inspired.. Time to start printing the parts. Thanks Tom!

[@alanb76]

Nice! I started one of these awhile back, need to get it finished!!

[@kleingarrett55]

Good luck, should be a fun build! I built mine about 5months ago and it works great for me. I opted for the full size Rambo board so I could easily do auto squaring.

[@RawSmoky]

Just perfect, as always. Tnx a lot for ur great job!!!

[@freezyAndHaze]

awesome stuff. I m gonna try to build one like these eventually

[@nccyr1]

Just in time! I just finished the Dolly/Prusa clone project today. Looking to follow this new project. Thanks again for putting this together.

Wow... I'm just printing MPCNC parts right now. Great timing!

[@CarlosElPeruacho]

Same, started last night!

[@TheLgonzal1]

Hah I am building this too! the interesting bit is that I actually printed the parts for my MPCNC build using the 3d printer I built following your mk2 clone build videos ;-)

[@MadeWithLayers]

Perfect!

[@ARepublicIfYouCanKeepIt]

Really looking forward to this build, Thomas. Ryan at V1 Engineering is super talented and very attentive to his customers, so, hopefully your build will go smoothly. As I suspect many who follow your channel are, I'm a "digital fabricator", with feet in both the additive (3D printing) and subtractive (CNC) spaces. While I have experience on many smaller form factor CNC's, my current machine is a Viper XP from CNC Factory (5'x10', 10HP spindle, automated 10-tool changer and vacuum hold down). It's my first experience with a machine this large and powerful, and it's been a game changer.

[@cosminnci]

I`m glad to see this coming, tho there are quite a few videos in this topic already.

[@meisenhut31]

5:58 we get a brilliant display of German sarcasm. Note how it is barely perceivable. Excellent form, 9/10

[@aserta]

Their glorious leader does not approve of that sarcasm. He will levy heavy embargo.

[@jeanmorin4580]

The greatest country in the world forces us Canadians into the archaic imperial system for construction. Metric almost everywhere else :( LOL

[@MakingwithLuke]

I'm stoked.

[@3djimmy252]

GREAT VIDEO THOMAS .. YOU STUFFED A LOT OF INFORMATION INTO A SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME !!!!!!!!!!!

[@tipoyio]

I'm planning also to make MPCNC and I just finished printing the parts with my 3D Printer! Nice video as always! Keep making!!!

[@Jehty_]

How long does the printing approximately take?

[@tipoyio]

@@Jehty_ Hours exactly I can't say. For all the parts it took me about 2 - 3 weeks. Just started with one to test if the tubes and screws are fit correct. I had also two big fails...

[@Turtle_1976]

I printed it originally in PLA, but after building it and not getting around to wiring it for a few months, the PLA cracked all over the place. This was not under any kind of a load, just the pressure needed to hold the plastic to the metal conduit. I reprinted everything in PETG and it has held up considerably better.

[@lv_woodturner3899]

Interesting series. You mentioned not knowing why pipe has odd OD. Pipe size is nominal ID. As the schedule (wall thickness) changes, the OD changes. You are using stainless tubing. Tube size is nominal OD. As wall thickness changes the ID changes. Pipe is normally used to move fluids. Tube is normally used for structural purposes. Dave.

[@StephenBoyd21]

Welcome to the club Tom

[@pauldevey8628]

Looking forward to more details

[@2384SKIPPER]

The weird tubing sizes make sense when you think about it. Tubing is mostly labeled by the inside diameter because it is made for something to go through so that is the size that counts.

[@MadeWithLayers]

Many pipe and pipe thread sizes are labeled by the inside size cast pipes used to be back in 1875. On modern 1" pipe, you'll not find a single dimension that is actually 1".

[@barry99705]

Pipe is measured by inside diameter, tube is measured by outside diameter.

[@sambarnes1226]

It's👏 about 👏 time 👏

[@JonMiles]

if this video had come out a fair while before the build, I'd have printed and ordered the parts to build along with you. Guess I'll be replaying the video in a month instead!

[@buildersmark]

Very interested in seeing how this goes together.

[@JohnOCFII]

I’m really looking forward to watching this build series. I’d really love to build an MPCNC, and I still might, but I have no idea where I could run a loud machine that creates sawdust or shavings.

[@trevorward85043]

I tried to build one of these a couple years ago and ran into issues with delaminating and brittle parts. These were also older generation STL. I look forward to seeing how the 'burly' parts work out.

[@agdesign6640]

Of all the MPCNC designs, this is the one I found easier to source. Most others use rectangular profiles or solid rods that are hard to find. Also it can be easier to adjust to individual needs in build size. However I plan to use the "electrical/electronic" setup of the RS-CNC32, it has nice features and also is completely stand alone which fits my needs best.

[@ConspiredOne]

Not sure if this was mentioned, but you can stock parts down with double sided template tape. Just a suggestion... great videos so far. I'm a new subscriber.

[@MrGurkentomate]

Just this week I started printing my mpcnc, the steel tubing is also cut already:D Let's see who cuts aluminium first :D

[@FullMetalFox2]

Oh you too are building one? Nice, im currently setting up the electrics for mine. :D On the Makita router, ive bought a 6mm to 3,175mm adapter from a german manufacturer, wasnt as cheap as the chinese ones but this one actually had good tolerances. Runout below 0.03mm, which is decent enough for a router being used in a half plastic cnc imho.

[@ts3dprints732]

I've always wanted to build one of these. I printed half of one and then my printer broke. By the time I upgraded to a Prusa I forgot about it. Maybe now I'll make one.

[@meisenhut31]

Tom, I'd love to see a hybrid approach including both additive and subtractive manufacturing utilizing a 3D printer for the rough workpiece followed by MPCNC milling to finish the piece!

[@Jehty_]

I don't think that you can mill 3D-printed parts. The plastic would probably melt due to heat generated by friction.

[@o11o01]

@@Jehty_ There are pretty high temp plastics, this could be interesting. Just might need to be in nylon or something.

[@cubbucca]

I just finished printing one of theses

[@0LoneTech]

I like the colour scheme. It reminds me of classic Lego.

[@jongross9115]

Learning how to use a ShopBot. CNC is great!

[@Whgrrbl]

I was in the middle of preparing the wiring for my MPCNC build when I saw the notification for this video

[@f1shboT]

When you are ready to throw that spindle in the trash - I recommend a Makita clone (Katsu, etc.) They're very cheap, and you can even get replacement parts. The added bonus being that you also get a free trimmer router. ;)

[@InsideAlan]

Yep, I also bought an er11 collet for the katsu.

[@raise-project]

I disagree with the color scheme but mine ended up similar after I printed some spare parts over 3 years. Great idea with the live streams!

[@SteevyTable]

I have a partially finished one in my basement currently. You'll want to do something for cable routing, that's what I'm currently stuck on. X and Y are ready to be installed, but I need to come up with a good way to send it to the center assembly.

[@HerveDequant]

Hello, I would recommend rigid couplers to replace the flexible, because with the movements, they will relax and distort the steps.

[@xSchattenfluchx]

You might want to look at the double belt modification done by Brauns CNC on KZbin in his video Building a (modified) mostly printed CNC Directly underneath the belts he places a wooden board standing upright with second belt glued to it, resulting in a sort of toothed rack. This completely removes the tension on the drive belt outside the idler rollers and instead transfers it to the bottom belt, which can't stretch because it's glued down on it's entire length

[@MadeWithLayers]

I've seen that, but I think as always I'll start out as stock as possible and then work my way forward.

[@zzing]

That work bench with shelving you have in the back right: did you make that out of other parts or did it come like that? Looks like something I could use 😄

[@petersolomon3505]

I’ve got to find the room in my lab so I can make one too! Wonder if it could be oriented vertically?

[@aserta]

You could build this out of pipe and angular components they use to make bus hand holds/railings out of. It would result in a very rigid structure. Push the envelope even further and you could use drawn (not seam welded) pipe (quite straight) and get even further bonuses.

[@luctimmen]

Hey Tom, maybe you can look up the ‘RS CNC’ i think its a stronger machine I’m building one myself right now Keep up the good work! Looking forward to this build

[@barr1212125]

Hi Thomas The table you have aside with the shelves where you bought it from If you can post a link I would love to know thanks

[@HerrBlei]

👍 This is great! Stream, 19:00, ✅

[@devildante1987]

I would suggest some steppers from Stepperonline. The got one of the strongest Nema 17 out there.

[@MrSchloet]

Great project, I already thought about building this for months now. Where you got the digital readout from? None of the kits on AliExpress (I guess you bought the Daedelus 400W?) have it included.

[@MadeWithLayers]

It was included in my kit, which was a no-name one. You may be able to find a readout module separately for your motor driver.

[@PMuis]

Hi Thomas, really looking forward to the rest of the video's. Question, I take it you used PLA because you had it lying around and it was easiest and cheapest. What do you thing is the best material to print these parts in? I was thinking PETG?

[@Th3_Gael]

Another great build to follow. Have you thought about doing the FDM SLA printer on thingiverse? Starting that as soon as my screen arrives

[@BradfordNeedham]

*closed* source. Ouch. Thanks for mentioning that up front.

[@concretecodpiece]

(Rhetorical question)Do you use Windows or MacOS as your os of choice? If so don't even flinch over a closed source project.

[@thomil4]

Don't you need 5 stepper motors to build the MPCNC? 2 for the X-axis, 2 for Y and one for the Z-axis? In the video and on your parts list you only list 3 stepper motors.

[@davidbarrett7424]

Could you talk about or do a piece of the different (major) variants of the MPCNC please?

[@mauldek9352]

hey nice video !! im going to print with abs , how fill percentage for the part please ?

[@WreckDiver99]

I've been eyeballig this MPCNC for a while now. Can't wait to see how it turns out!

[@davids.6671]

Ist there a good reason for not using anodized 25*2 Aluminium Tubes?

[@oburi85]

Hey Thomas, wo hast du die Rohre bezogen? Ich bin auch gerade am bauen, suche aber noch Rohre. xD

[@stvcolwill]

yay!!!

[@ManIkWeet]

How feasible would it be to make a series of every DIY printer available? HyperCube (EVO), Voron2, etc? And then rate it based on build complexity, cost, quality etc?

[@TheSqueeker101]

Very Expensive and time consuming. He would need some serious funding and dedicated fans (who are willing to wait for videos) to do that.

[@Jehty_]

@@TheSqueeker101 or fans who send him their DIY printers, so he don't need to build them himself.

[@karellen00]

Consider adding a couple of green parts to have the whole google color palette!

[@heselmas]

I am printing for 2 weeks now. :-) I use petg. In old pla prints i see allot of splitting over time. 37 print hours to go. 5 big parts. I don't like to leave my printers unattended. My board is a SKR 1.3 with TMC 2130. Hope te get sensorless homing working. If the 2130 is not strong enough i upgrade later to the TMC2209. I use the SKR1.3 with tmc2130 on my ender 3 and prusa i3 clone 2014.

[@93Bananaphone93]

Build this machine already :D

[@excessnet]

Oh! Could you do RS-CNC and make a compare after that? :D

[@mathijsfrissen9473]

Why not go for a SKR V1.3 instead of the duet? It is also 32bit and you can choose your own stepper drivers like for example the tmc5160.

[@MadeWithLayers]

My SKR hasn't arrived yet 😉

[@randalllasini8772]

I did my mpcnc a year ago. But one of the best things I found was don’t think of conduit. I found that towel rack tube was perfect instead (25mm chrome stainless steel tube) and was way cheaper and came pre cut in standard length.

[@cliffchism9187]

Thanks for that tip! Hadn't thought/heard of it.

[@abc321meins]

why is the livestream from today marked as private? :-( edit: nvr mind

[@axelSixtySix]

Tom, please beware that chinese spindle gets pretty hot in use. Eventually the PLA spindle clamp can release the working spindle as the PLA gets soft. That was so close here as I saw the cut quality decrease, I emergency stoped the machine just before seeing the spindle falling. A real piece of chance! You will probably need to upgrade your splindle mountings to ASA parts or OEM aluminium mount as I did. What about a modern board alternative to the old timer MKS Gen ? I mean a Fysetc Cheetah or, if you like changeable drivers a Bigtreetech SKR ? I also strongly recommend ABEC 7 class bearings. Good luck with the build. And oh, the colours reminds me the joyfull kindergarden, kinda FisherPrice MPcnc ;D

[@MadeWithLayers]

Thanks for the tip with the spindle - the air cooling sure doesn't seem very effective. Maybe one of the first parts to replace with ABS. I tossed to MKS Gen in the list as it's a fairly popular and cheap board (and useful outside of CNC use) - the "best" choice probably is something else, either a cheaper option like the CNC shield or something beefier.

[@axelSixtySix]

@@MadeWithLayers nowadays an All In One Board replaces attractively the CNC Shield (Keyestudio CNC or so for about €15). Bonus, you're not constrain to 16 microsteps, and the board is spindle/laser control ready. Through, you can still connect external beefy drivers if needed. But who wants to power Nema 17 with such drivers ? I run my desktop CNC equiped with 2.5A Nema 23 motors with a MKS Robin for about a year. 32 bits 3DPrinters boards works definitely fine. I tryed external drivers then go back to the DRV8825 @ 2.2A which were close to perfection : no heat, no missed steps, so... Actually the price tag of the 32 bits Cheetah board with built int TMC drivers is under 30 bucks, so it's highly competitive versus the 8 bit MKS Gen. In my humble opinion, of course ;) Oh, and thank you for your videos (I forgot), I'm an early follower. I will follow your build with interest.

[@barry99705]

@@MadeWithLayers Definitely keep an eye on the temp, but I'm running a brushed chinese "spindle" on mine and so far, haven't had it get hot enough to soften anything. I think the dewalt gets hotter, and I've run one of those for almost 20 hours straight once.

[@axelSixtySix]

@@barry99705 There's various situations obviously. The Dewalt is a router, so this is not the same story, It would probably don't last that much except episodic hobby week-end jobs. I leave it appart for now. The 300w chinese spindle does not heat that much, especially under 12VDC. As you raise in power and/or voltage, spindles gets unfortunately hot after 20-25mn of use, which is not that much for serious CNC operations. According to the BOM, Tom will run his 500w spindle under 24VDC so he may be concerned. I've got a few experience: I'm into CNC routers since 2003. On the machine I'm talking about - I actually own 3 CNC mills : desktop, full sheet CNC, and Epoxy Granite metal CNC mill - I can barely touch my chinese 500w air cooled spindle running under 48VDC. So I guess It raise over 60°C. A temperature my PLA holder could not stand, despite its 60mm tall. Through, I noticed Plastic spindle mounts works like heat insulation for spindle, so the temperature is allowed to stay and raise higher than an OEM aluminium spindle mount. Serveral reasons for that IMHO. First, there's the thermal mass effect. Second, aluminium is good at catching temperature. Last, but not least, the mounted fan blow a lot of air around the spindle (much than on the spindle itslef I'm affraid), and while the aluminium mount is on the way, the spindle's fan cools it.

[@phillipstearns7258]

is this what they mean by computer LEGO?

[@fernandovanegas1273]

One of the best cnc

[@Skeptic2006]

I printed this and got all the parts for it tho I got nema 23's and drivers but I made the mistake of choosing the 23,5mm version instead of the 25mm. The pipe radius that is. I've searched countless hardware stores but no luck finding other than 25mm pipe. Keep that in mind if you are European and planning to make this.

[@l3d-3dmaker58]

I'd suggest going for 12mm belts and using a double belt design like braum's CNC version, he cuts aluminum with his

[@allted]

Lots of us can cut steel using the 6mm belts. I don't feel they are a weak point but could be I guess.

[@darinschollmeyer4234]

I built one of these, the only problems I had were that I cheaped out and tried to use a raspberry pi with an arduino based controller and open source software. It worked well with simple parts (2.5D cuts) but when I tried to do full 3D surfaces, it always quit or went crazy. I ended up buying a USB controller from amazon that is compatible with Mach3 (Mach3 loaded up on a new laptop) and have yet to have a single problem. Also don't cheap out on the stepper drives, had lots of problems with a cheap drive just quitting in the middle of a cut.

[@darinschollmeyer4234]

Also, don't even think about cutting anything without a vacuum system in place, the dust builds up on the rails/bearings and can cause rough motion.

[@alejandroperez5368]

I'm interested in making a CNC hotwire foam cutter. Is it possible to adapt this for my use? What about the software part? Thanks.

[@MadeWithLayers]

The MPCNC platform is not tied to a specific software - you can use whichever CAM package you feel like. But I don't think the MPCNC is a good match for hot wire cutting - there are other, lighter platforms available for that

[@alejandroperez5368]

@@MadeWithLayers Interesting. Would you care to name some of those platforms? I have a 3D printer and a large CNC router machine. Thanks

[@kostadubovskiy7805]

When will you do the ANT pcb maker cnc

[@MadeWithLayers]

I need to check back on that project, when I first covered it, it wasn't ready for release yet.

[@kostadubovskiy7805]

oh cool, I’ve been waiting a while for it, i was inspired by them to make my own pcb milling CNC from scratch so I was curious what you were thinking about the ANT

[@evo-labs]

When I grow up to be a full time youtuber I wan't to be like Tom

[@MakerMark]

I see the mpcnc is making rounds in the 3d printing KZbinr circles .. like everything else. Is it just me or is this a deja Vu?

[@spokehedz]

What would it actually take to convert this to Metric?

[@Matanzabe]

What do you think about carbon ? 1-4mm ?

[@MadeWithLayers]

I've not milled CFK before, but I think it should be possible. Super messy, though, the open construction of the MPCNC is probably not great here.

[@barry99705]

It's been done. Need either really good dust collection, or in a water bath. That's what one of the guys did. He put a big metal baking pan under the machine, then hot glued some spacers and the cf to the spacers, then made sure the carbon panels were covered. You really don't want that dust floating around, its ungodly toxic, and slightly electrically conductive.

[@vojtator]

Although spiny lobsters superficially resemble true lobsters in terms of overall shape and having a hard carapace and exoskeleton, the two groups are not closely related.

[@shyowl3453]

to be fair I think the idea is to start with pla and then upgrade to aluminum parts then go further

[@SpeedDeamon95]

I'm guessing you can scale the size of it?

[@MadeWithLayers]

Absolutely! At some point, the tubing and belts will get too long, but within reason it's super simple to change the size.

[@barry99705]

We try to get folks to keep it under 3 foot square, but yea, they've been done bigger.

[@gerritmaar]

the link to the parts list does not seem to work

[@MadeWithLayers]

Thanks, should be fixed now!

[@zanpekosak2383]

This seems great but I dont like the belt design. If it had lead screws I would have already made it. I am still waiting for the Dremel CNC version with a 1.5kW spindle mount.

[@barry99705]

Long lead screws get flappy. The belts at these lengths don't have enough stretch to measure.

[@zanpekosak2383]

But still they are belts. Ever seen a commercial CNC rocking belts? I definetly havent. Its fine for laser cutters and 3D printers which only transfer a few 100g max but when we are talking about a 1.5kW spindle that weighs over 2 kg without the tooling and needs some decent force to keep the chipload at a consistent pace than lead screws are the way to go. You can buy thicker ones too you know?