i know i asked a few weeks ago somewhere, but just to confirm because i cant find it, a 8x11 foot frame is ideal compared to a 8x12 foot frame for the m4 to be able to cut a 4x8 sheet?
Caleb Yager wrote:
i know i asked a few weeks ago somewhere, but just to confirm because i cant
find it, a 8x11 foot frame is ideal compared to a 8x12 foot frame for the m4
to be able to cut a 4x8 sheet?
yes, a 8x11 frame is a bit better than a 8x12 frame
both start losing accuracy in the corners, but the 12’ one also hits limits in
the centers of the long sides
but a 9x12 frame will be better than either (but even it starts to run into
limits in the corners
play around with https://lang.hm/maslow/maslow4_frame.html to see the limits
they aren’t hard ‘you can’t move here’ limits, they are ‘things will start to be
off a bit’ and the more lines you cross, the furhter off it will be
David Lang
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alright awesome thank you, i need to take atleast a foot off the center of my hourglass frame sounds like lol, also that link dosent work for me this one does tho Maslow frame
actually that link dosent really seem to open accurately either possibly, (is the whole thing supposed to be red at all times?)
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Bigger is better in general but without arm extensions the max possible software limit is 5m square. The next limit is the max extension of the belts. The distance from the far corner of the plywood to the far anchor has to be limited to the length of the belt. I would play with the simulators. Back of the envelope suggests 20 feet on a diagonal or roughly 16 feet wide by 8 high might be possible for a horizontal frame. That would be the longest extension that the belts could make and still reach the far corner. I kinda want to make one. It would be easy with 10 foot lumber making an x my frame is pretty close to that and works very well for me but I really haven’t done much cutting.
here is the link to the frame library in the wiki which has the dimension limits and a list of frame simulators.
Ok, I just tried it in the simulator and those dimensions make bad parts in the middles of the sides.
So I tweaked it a bit and it looks like 17.5 feet wide b 10.75 would kind of be glorious.
This is me just having fun. Not sure if it would actually work. if you did, an x frame with 9 foot spars at 31 degrees from a central line would work. My frame is very close to that already and I have been happy.
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4800 x 4000 seemed a sweet spot when I was playing around with sizes (and just about doable with 4 * 3m planks for an X frame). And just about doable with the standard belts I think? Though I was planning to use extensions when I try it.
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Dave wrote:
4800 x 4000 seemed a sweet spot when I was playing around with sizes (and just
about doable with 4 * 3m planks for an X frame). And just about doable with
the standard belts I think? Though I was planning to use extensions when I try
it.
that looks good, and it needs 4145m of belt and you have just over 4400mm, so it
should work, but not with shortened belts (and you may be at the outer edge
where too much tension pulls the belt out of the spool)
David Lang
2 Likes
Yeah, it feels very much like you’re on the limit and it would be safer with extensions, though that’s extra complexity 
I have been using 1 metre extensions for months now and it has not presented any problems, actually simplified things and speeds up connection as not as much belt needs to spool out. Just be sure that each extension is the same length exactly or the Maslow will have a hissy fit and refuse to find anchors. I used aluminium square tube and in hindsight could have gone to 1.5 metres. I also changed the relevant settings in the Maslow.yaml file, but I suspect that is not needed.
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