Just got my SM2.0 a350 delivered to the front porch. I’m excited to assemble it, but upon lifting the box, its got quite a bit of “heft” to it. I would like to assemble it where It will “permanently” be staying. I plan on using this primarily for CNC aluminium and wood projects, and occasional laser. Where does everyone use or place their Snap Maker in their home? understandably, the CNC will be “noisy” as well as create lots of dust with enclosure or not, but would it survive in an unconditioned garage space? Does it require lots of baby-sitting while CNC? Or can i just let it go similar to a 3d printer? Looking forward to your answers!
Whether or not it will survive in a garage with no climate control depends on your climate. If you live in an area with mild winters it might be okay. I wouldn’t keep it anywhere that temperatures are likely to dip below freezing, or run it if the ambient temperature is over 30C.
If you’re putting it somewhere where it’s difficult to check on it regularly, consider setting up a camera system to monitor it (with a Raspberry Pi, an old phone, whatever you can make work cheaply). My understanding is that CNC can go south pretty quickly if a bit snaps or the stock comes loose and starts thrashing around the enclosure. Note that the Snapmaker2 isn’t intended for significant CNC work on aluminum.
If you’re going to be using the laser at all, make sure you put your unit somewhere with good ventilation, or use a hose to vent the enclosure to somewhere appropriate (ideally to the outside).
I have my Snapmaker stashed in a corner of our (finished) basement and vented through a window, but I haven’t used the CNC at all so far.
When running it, you have to be aware of the environment it is in: if the garage has no A/C, then you have to provide for cooling somehow or it will overheat. There isn’t a problem with it being too cold, as there is no coolant to freeze. All bets are off with 3D printing of course, you have to really control the environment if you want prints to come out well.
You also don’t need to get to fancy to contain the mess. Put the A350 on a shelf or rack that can hold the weight, then surround it with plexiglass that you bolt or even clamp in place. Add fans and vents to the plexiglass to keep it from overheating, a shop-vac hookup to capture the dust. Improve the setup after a few runs, when you know where the vibration is and how much cooling is required.
Thanks for the reply, I ended up talking to my wife, and confiscated the guest bedroom’s shower, with the door shut, and water turned off, its sitting on a nice sturdy butcher block counter top.
@4tdesignstudio regardless of where you put it, it’s never wise to leave CNC unattended. If you get the settings wrong due to density or moisture in wood, like spindle speed for example, the following friction can start a fire. You especially don’t want to leave it unattended when milling aluminum.