3D printer & CNC design

[KrYpTOCiD]

While i know you said you didnt want people saying stuff like the above, he has a point. Cnc machines and 3d printers have totally different needs and opposing design philosophies. For a 3d printer you usually want fairly quick speeds, this means a light as possible gantry that only needs to resist forces from accelerations. Cnc cutters on the other hand want a rock solid (read:heavy) gantry that can resist cutting forces. The speed of your motion system is not a limiting factor.

At best you get a printer that doubles as a light duty mill that will do wood and maybe aluminium if you go super slow. Or a cnc that doubles as a slow printer. Dont get me wrong, id love a good two in one machine, but it wont be the best of both worlds.

If i were to make thr machine, i'd go for a replicator, ultimaker, corexy or other similar 'cube' form factor. Steer clear of prusa style gantries as the cutting forces when cutting in the y direction will do horrors to the vertical part of the frame with the torques they'll exert on it. Build it out of aluminium as a compromise between weight and rigidity, and use nema 23 where possible. And don't cantilever the bed.

Be sure that I didn't wanted to make something like prusa. I don't like the their performance even at 3D printing mostly because that bed...... But I think that I'll go for laser engraving ( it was something like a backup option. until now) as you said

Thanks for reply

[Trakyan]

Be sure that I didn't wanted to make something like prusa. I don't like the their performance even at 3D printing mostly because that bed...... But I think that I'll go for laser engraving ( it was something like a backup option. until now) as you said

Thanks for reply

The laser was CAs idea, so I can't take credit. But now that you've mentiomed you only want to work with a few mm thick wood, I would say something like a 5w diodr laser mounted instead of an extruder would be your best bet as laser cutting and 3d print both dont need to endure cutting forces, and would work fine on the same machine. Be sure to enclose the printer though to protect yourself from the laser, it's dangerous and its an invisible threat if it reflects off something.