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I was thinking that this great machine is only one item away from being a totally different tool. If you changed out the router mount for something else what else could you do? For instance, has anyone taken one of these and put a plasma cutter head on it? What about an extrusion head for 3d printing? All you’d have to do is figure out how to mount the new head to the Z-axis and delrin nut…
I’d be rather hesitant with the plasma cutter, particularly. There’s a massive amount of EMI generated with that much voltage being thrown around, it might do really odd things to the steppers. Plus the Delrin V-wheels right there next to the sparks and heat…
The 3D printer head I’ve seen on a Shapoko before, and I’ve seen a lot of people mounting the J. Tech Photonics laser modules. It’s a darn versatile system!
I’d think you could reduce heat issues with shielding and air. For instance the same shielding people use to keep dust off the Y-axis rails would keep the heat away from those v-wheels when cutting close to the sides. As for the wheels on teh X/Z-axis something like a broad dust shoe made out of sheet metal would keep the heat and radiation off the delrin on the X-Carriage. You could even bend it from horizontal (like a dust shoe) to vertical both in front of and behind the X-Carriage to direct heat away… maybe.
I can’t wait to get all the final parts I need to finish mine and start cutting.
cosmetic changes to the endplates and extrusion colour
a few bundled upgrades
It’s ironic that it has selected the same trim router to replace the spindle as the SO3, an interesting bit of convergence (my suggestion would’ve been to’ve gone w/ the MLCS Rocky 30 — it would match the colour better, and they could buy the 1/8" collets from Elaire in bulk for an affordable option).
But if you’ve got a slingshot which has a similar degree of parts compatibility w/ a firearm, I’d like to see it.