My OneFinity has Landed

[John TenEyck]

I looked at other machines with a 2 x 4 machining area. I could never get beyond the 2 ft X-axis limitation. It was only when 1F came out with the 48 X-axis in a machine that costs less than $5K that I decided to buy. I make furniture and cabinets, too. I would not have been able to do a few jobs already with a 2 ft X-axis. On the other hand, 4 x 4 starts to take up a lot of shop space, as much as I'd like to have it.

John

[Jim Becker]

John, a 2x4 machine is a 2x4 machine, regardless of which axis (x or y) is the "short" one. You do your CAD/CAM to suit. Very few machines on the market make the x axis the "long" axis.

[John TenEyck]

John, a 2x4 machine is a 2x4 machine, regardless of which axis (x or y) is the "short" one. You do your CAD/CAM to suit. Very few machines on the market make the x axis the "long" axis.

Try tiling a 4 x 8 ft sheet of plywood through a machine with a 2 ft X-axis. Let me know how that goes.

John

[David Buchhauser]

John, a 2x4 machine is a 2x4 machine, regardless of which axis (x or y) is the "short" one. You do your CAD/CAM to suit. Very few machines on the market make the x axis the "long" axis.

My Avid Pro 4824 has X as the long axis. So 48" wide (x) by 24" deep (y). And the beauty of it is that it can easily be expanded to 48x48, 48x96, etc. I chose the Pro 4824 because I couldn't fit the Pro 4848 in the space I had designated for it. And for my particular purposes the 24" depth is fine.
David

[Keith Outten]

CAMaster built me a 48" by 36" Stinger, just ask them if they will provide a custom size. My table size was specified to fit one third sheets of Dupont Corian which is 48" by 30".

[Jim Becker]

Try tiling a 4 x 8 ft sheet of plywood through a machine with a 2 ft X-axis. Let me know how that goes.

John

I didn't mean to represent that there were not exceptions and should have been clearer, so I apologize for that. But yes, that's absolutely an example of when things would be an issue. Very few machines have a longer x axis compared to y, so if that's a requirement, it has to be part of the purchase decision.

[John TenEyck]

I didn't mean to represent that there were not exceptions and should have been clearer, so I apologize for that. But yes, that's absolutely an example of when things would be an issue. Very few machines have a longer x axis compared to y, so if that's a requirement, it has to be part of the purchase decision.

No apology expected Jim. We often get pigeonholed in our thought process. The 2 ft X-axis limitation is what kept me out of the market until 1F came along with their 4 ft model for less than $5 all in. I'm sure I could have done a lot of things with something smaller, but now I have very few limitations. Tiling is not a replacement for a 4 x 8 machine, but that's not an option in my shop.

John

[Mark e Kessler]

Thanks Ken, I sent them an email.

CAMaster built me a 48" by 36" Stinger, just ask them if they will provide a custom size. My table size was specified to fit one third sheets of Dupont Corian which is 48" by 30".

[John TenEyck]

Mark, OneFinity just launched a new machine today, run by a Masso Controller, for less than $3500 for earlier buyers. It still uses the Makita router, but on a much beefier Z-axis slider, and the spindle upgrade is available. All in you'd be around $5K. It's still a 48 x 32" machine, but I expect a 48 x 48 will be released soon, as in any day now.

You might want to check it out: https://www.onefinitycnc.com/product...8-x32-cut-area

John

[Jerome Stanek]

John, a 2x4 machine is a 2x4 machine, regardless of which axis (x or y) is the "short" one. You do your CAD/CAM to suit. Very few machines on the market make the x axis the "long" axis.

My shopbot is X is the long Y is the short also the Bessie that I run is this way to I don't know where you got your info from there are a lot of CNC's that are this way Also my 2 different lasers are set up this way. When you design do you work up and dow or across.

[Jim Becker]

Jerom, ShopBot is indeed one manufacturer with X being the longer axis. But if you were to truly survey the industry, I strongly suspect that you'd find that the majority of machine are setup such that when standing in the front of the machine with absolute X-Y zero, on the left corner relative to you, that X is going to be the short axis because traditionally in "math", that's how an x-y grid is typically represented. But in the end, it doesn't matter as long as the CAD/CAM matches the machine's orientation and the owner's preference. John made a good point about why the axis orientation with X being long works better for him.

[Gary Campbell]

Truth is that there are numerous orientations of CNC gantry machines. The XY reference (datum or zero) corner can be in any of the 4 corners depending on what the machine's intended use is. This orientation is selected by the machine's designer or builder. Long axis can be X or Y, gantry axis can be X or Y, it doesn't matter as long as the operating code of the CAD program matches the Cartesian Quadrant (there are 4) of the machines setup.

For the most part, and with very few exceptions, CNC router tables use the "upper right" quadrant for their table (or machine) coordinate system. This means that when traversing away from the machines XY zero location, both X and Y coordinates are positive numbers.

Cartesian Coords.JPG

This means that from the operator's position, X positive is to the right and Y positive is away or "up" as it would relate to the CAD drawing plane, therefore making the XY Zero location always on the lower left. This is the way it has been since the 17th century.

What changes when choosing either the X or Y as the "long" axis is the operators position. The operator's position should be at the front of the machine looking at the table from the same orientation as the CAD design plane. This orients the operator's viewpoint of the cutting table, the CAD design plane and the machine controls to the same motion, i.e., XY zero in the lower left with positive X to the right and positive Y up or away from the operator.

Note that from the operator's position, or front of the machine, in either case the machine's XY zero, or machine home, or "Zero" location is always on the lower left.

Y Gantry.JPGX Gantry.JPG

Many operators do not know this and often struggle with operation or design to control issues because they simply stand in the wrong position, which has them assume that the XY zero is someplace other than to the lower left. Years of on the road service in hundreds of shops and observing many more machines than I was servicing have taught me that there are many more machines that use the Y gantry orientation than the X. This is most likely due to the fact that most machines load material from an open end rather than a side. This has some operators of X gantry machines thinking that the open end is the front, or operator's position, when in fact the long side is the front.

Stand Position.JPG

[Alex Zeller]

I think it comes down to what type linear bearings are used on the Y axis. If they can be attached to the frame in multiple locations then they can be almost infinitely long. But for a machine like the OneFinity they are only supported at the ends the diameter of the slides would have to get so large that it just doesn't make sense. I don't see OneFinity making a 4x8 machine with their current design. Another advantage of being able to securing the Y axis in multiple places is the X axis can be beefier as weight isn't an issue.

[Mark e Kessler]

Thanks John I saw that, the Masso controller with closed loop motors, beefier z, and the other small improvements sealed the deal. I just don’t see spending another 10-15k worth it for me (Avid, Camaster…) at this point.

The max size I can go is the 4x3 but gona be real tight in a 22x22 shop with a 9’ slider, 37” wide belt and all the other woodworking things machines…

Mark, OneFinity just launched a new machine today, run by a Masso Controller, for less than $3500 for earlier buyers. It still uses the Makita router, but on a much beefier Z-axis slider, and the spindle upgrade is available. All in you'd be around $5K. It's still a 48 x 32" machine, but I expect a 48 x 48 will be released soon, as in any day now.

You might want to check it out: https://www.onefinitycnc.com/product...8-x32-cut-area

John

[Jim Becker]

Mark, does that 4x3 max size include the actual dimensions of the machine which are generally larger?