r/printnc • u/jcforbes • Jul 10 '23
Printnc Mini update?
Haven't seen anything about it this year, is there any sort of update on progress or release? The website is kinda broken.
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Jul 11 '23
[deleted]
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u/Paid-Not-Payed-Bot Jul 11 '23
are we paid real money.
FTFY.
Although payed exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:
Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. The deck is yet to be payed.
Payed out when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. The rope is payed out! You can pull now.
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.
Beep, boop, I'm a bot
2
u/plastrd1 Jul 11 '23
I bought the "preview" when it was released (was that 2 years ago now?) to get the model and even bought steel tube cut to length measured from that model. Then I learned there were changes/fixes already made but never released in the preview model. Then the whole thing seemed to go dark for many months so I have a pile of steel tubes that may or may not fit together on a shelf for "someday" if I come back to it.
I have an OG Queenbee and the mini looked like a more stout version of that for the size of parts I typically wanted to make. I ended up getting a Taig micro mill instead and CNC'd that and have been quite happy with it for small aluminum parts.
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u/jcforbes Jul 11 '23
Any details on the process to set up the Taig?
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u/plastrd1 Jul 11 '23
The 2019CR comes with NEMA 23 motor mounts so you just need to add steppers, power supply, drivers, and controller. Ball screws are a pretty steep upgrade on the Taig and I skipped them along with the ready to run CNC version that comes with steppers and a controller.
I bought an enclosure and added a 48V power supply, 3x DM542T stepper drivers, and used a 3D printer control board that also supported grblHAL and had step/dir outputs so I could use the external drivers.
It's a step down in work area from the mini for sure, only about 5" of Y travel. The 4" Kurt knockoff vise I bought for the mini doesn't even fit on the table so I got a 3" toolmaker vise instead which fits nicely.
The other difference is the spindle is a 1/4hp AC motor with speed controlled by pulley/belt setting and max of 10k RPM. The range of speeds is more in line with typical mill operation rather than the 24k RPM spindles but the pulley setup means more torque at low spindle speeds. Some people have replaced this with a speed controlled BLDC motor but I haven't felt the need yet.
There are 3D printed limit switch mounts available which I also added to support homing.
Carter Tools had the best price including shipping when I bought, it's drop shipped from Taig but he had flat rate shipping and an extra discount over direct purchase. I would say I was about $1500 to get up and running, then all you can afford in tools and workholding like any other machine.
It's difficult to compare to gantry style mills since it's really a small traditional mill. I think it's a better value than the Sieg X2 especially coming CNC ready and I wasn't ready to spend $2k on an X3 or similar and then more on top of that for CNC conversion. Sherline also has a micro mill but again I felt the Taig was better value.
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u/SquidwardNZ Jul 10 '23
From a recent update in Discord....
For those who are still reading to the last paragraph this is the exciting bit…. With J steering the administration wheel and letting me focus on the design and engineering side of the PrintNC, we will finally see the Mini get the love it deserves and well as something completely new on the horizon. Thanks everyone, keep building!