I recently purchased a F350 machine as I knew I will be upgrading the laser module to 10W. I also, find the CNC module a bit underpowered for my woodworking and aluminum projects.
Does anyone know if Snapmaker will be releasing a new more powerful CNC module in the future?
Thanks,
Frank
It was shown in their original plans with Kickstarter. They basically added a bracket to hold a Makita router. A lot of lower cost consumer cnc & kit & homebuilt ones use this. But I suspect they found out that the architecture of the SM 2.0 couldn’t handle the extra weight and abandoned it. A couple people on FB printed their own brackets and that was indeed the case.
There are some mods here on the forum that people have been doing to beef up the SM. Personally I wouldn’t bother. Better off getting a machine that’s designed for CNC.
-S
This video shows a bit what’s possible, and what not: Snapmaker 2.0 milling Aluminum - YouTube I can tell from my own experience that I saw the CNC milling head tilt even on harder parts in wood, so I suppose the structure is not rigid enough for precision work. Still here’s a Facebook post that shows one possible improvement: Snapmaker Enthusiasts & Users Group | First test video of the SnapMaker CNC ultra ^^ - and there are other ideas more simple. Still, with the stock version there are limits, which is a pity. I honestly was hoping that they would officilly release the bracket for the Makita router as “promised” in the live stream mentioned by sdj544.
There used to be a bracket someone designed for the Makita on thingiverse. Which is basically what the SM was. Looks like they took it down. Probably because they found it didn’t worked as they’d hoped and it was putting too much stress on the machine.
Someone on FB had a little more success using a lighter spindle that was still more powerful than the SM head.
-S
Among other things, the bearings on the linear module are particularly not well suited to a torque load that the cantilever mounting of the work heads introduces.
sdj544, I think you are right about the linear modules torque load. I will need to look at a dedicated CNC router. Was hoping I could save some space. I already own two other full size routers and don’t own any bits with less than 1/2" shank. I find that anything less than 1/2" has too much flex.
Wondering if it would help if the CNC motor was mounted stationarily somewhere sturdy, and the torque would be transferred to the work head via flexible shaft like here: Dremel 225 Flexible Shaft Extension - YouTube
The torque would still be exerted on the work head, no matter where the motor was located, nor how the force was transferred to the spindle. It’s the tool->collet->spindle bearings->spindle mount dynamic chain that transfers force.