I just ordered a Maslow today and wanted to no what is the maximum size that we can cut with this CNC.
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No one has built a frame larger than 8āx12ā and shared details, but an 8āx12ā frame gives you a 4āx8ā working area comfortably.
The belts can handle a larger frame, but I donāt know the upper limit, there.
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you can do a 12ā square frame giving you about a 8ā square work area
you can trade width for height (but not at a simple ratio) and there is work
pending to support adding extensions to the belts that would let you go to at
least a 10ā square workpiece (but not ETA on that work)
David Lang
The most honest answer is āwe donāt know.ā The Maslow 4 is new enough that we havenāt fully explored its limits. Certainly you can cut a 4āx8ā (1220x2440mm) sheet.
When you go larger there are a number of issues you may encounter, but I canāt say exactly at what size these issues kick in
- the accuracy of your cuts will get worse starting at the centers of your edges. This effect will get even worse when you reach a size where the arms start to collide with the supports for the router.
- the belt angles will be so shallow that the belts will be unable to pull the sled to the centers of the edges at all.
- the belts will unspool so far that the full force of the belt tension might pull the belt out of the spool. I ended up limiting the distance between my anchors to 4320x3770 mm for this reason. Might I have been too conservative? Certainly.
You can explore possible sizes using this tool: http://lang.hm/maslow/maslow4_frame.html
We at least should be able to math-out the current hard limit imposed by how much belt can fit onto the spool without causing issues. Thatās independent of frame size, since there could be an arbitrary amount of excess belt outside the spool, though I feel like this would cause issue with retract all unless there was something on the belt to act as a stopper.
For a square work area, max should be close to the square root of (max_belt_on_spool^2)/2 across and tall if I am not too tired to be doing geometry.
if your anchors are 4320x3770 mm how big is your cut area?
I didnāt have a specific work area in mind, but wanted to maximize the size of my frame (which is my concrete driveway) so that I can possibly cut bigger pieces. I was also thinking that I would like to measure the accuracy of cuts to help find the limits you are looking for. I havenāt gotten to that, though.
Are there any designs posted for the Unistrut Frame @bar shows in calibration video?
Iām looking to build a 12ft x 7.5ft Unistrut /Frame and would love feedback. Particularly interested to know the parts list used for building the frame. Iām actually designing a frame with maximum length parts at 5ft, so that the frame can be easily disassembled and transported using a heavy duty ski bag. If I donāt need to go 12ft x 7.25ft Iām aok with that. I just canāt exceed 86" inches vertical height.
Thanks!
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If Iām remembering/interpreting correctly, Bar doesnāt give the design for the metal frame they have in the background because it has more flex than he feels is acceptable for him to recommend it.
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also keep an eye on the thread
where thee is testing being done in the white and red areas of that graph.
the metal frame Bar built did not have any vertical supports between the ends of
the beams, that would reduce flex significantly
frame flex testing will hopefully show up in .77 this week (there was a .75.1 or
.74.1 that had it, but not a main release yet)
The difficulty you will have with a frame assembled from short parts is going to
be preventing flex.
I would suggest looking at
Possible super-simple frame as a posible
starting point, when preventing frame flex you need to look at where the forces
are and have a plan to counter them. Barās metal frame has two problems:
- the ends of the beams are unsupported so they can flex up and down (Y axis)
- as you apply tension, the frame can flex in the Z direction (probably less of
an effect but still there)
for this super-simple frame concept, it is putting a beam directly between all 4
corners at a height that (nearly) eliminates the forces in the Z direction and
provides support in the X/Y direction so that the beams are all in compression,
none should have flexing loads on them (the loads on the corners will be uneven,
so there will be racking load on the frame, but if you can anchor it down enough
to prevent that, you should be in good shape)
David Lang
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looking at the math (and the calculator, I think you will be able to go up to a 10ā square area on a 15ā square frame when we get support for belt extensions (add a 3.5ā extension to each corner)
This will leave 4-6 inches wrapped around the spool at the far corner, and the full 14.5 ft of belt on the spool at the near corner. the corners will go a fair ways into the white area, so accuracy there will suffer a bit
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Thereās a few of us anchoring the Maslow directly to concreteā¦ I havenāt actually assembled mine, but Iāve set the anchors 
Hello everyone!
I got the M4 last week and just ordered the Dewalt. I have completed the build up to the point of mounting the router, so now Iām planning to build the frame so I can have it ready when I recieve the router.
Currently browsing the forums to get in front of any problems and challenges that might reveal themselves during setup and calibration. Thereās a ton of great information and tips and tricks from all of you!
@dlang Your frame-calculator is brilliant! I have tried to find an explanation for all the settings, but I canāt seem to find one. Is there one available somewhere?
What I canāt get my head quite around are the settings for limiting angles. I have figured out that it has to do with the arms hitting the motors and the belts position? Is that correct? I canāt seem to visualize the angles or fully understand the meaning of the different options in the dropdown menu.
ā Are these measureable?
I guess it will make more sense to me when I finally get to see it all in action and experience the movement of the M4 first-hand, but is there a scematic showing this?
*EDIT: I found it! Guess I should thank @pdw125 and @arjenschoneveld for this also. Awesome work!
Maslow 4 frame size checker
I figured my question would fit in this thread, but feel free to move the post or correct me.
Exited to get to know you all and getting started!
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