I am very interested in purchasing the Altmill but I have some storage issues. I was wondering if anyone has made modifications to the table to assist in storage. Such as a flip top table design? Any ideas or suggestions would be great assistance. Even the communities thoughts on if it could even work because since I don’t have the machine yet i’m not even sure something like this can even be accomplished. I know there are a lot of good ideas out there for table designs for the Longmill but what about the Altmill?
Welcome aboard Michael. Search for table designs. Quite a few, like you, have space issues. Personally mine (MK1 30x30) is a 4x4 table on rollers so I can just move it out of the way. Some have mounted vertically or at an angle to save space. Others have mounted on hinges so they can fold it up against a wall and drops down on legs or a work bench. One CNC’r even put theirs on cables so they can raise it up to the ceiling and drop it onto saw horses or foldup table. Most you will find are for the MK1’s or 2’s but may give you some ideas. So many options but it will obviously have to be your choice based on your space. Good luck with your decision.
When the Altmill was envisioned, there was some thought given to the idea of making the legs optional or, since most people would likely want the legs, to just include them with every machine. Part of that decision was that it would be cheaper/simpler/more efficient to just include the legs with every machine. There was a clear possibility (in my understanding of things) that the actual use of the legs was optional.
As Heyward43 mentioned, there are plenty of ideas floating around for tables/storage for the smaller mills which do not have a table included. These could be adapted for the Altmill and just not use the legs.
Please be aware that one reason for including the legs was that the Altmill is much more powerful and can shake things up if the support is not rigid enough. You will have to keep that in mind when you build your custom table.
Thanks for the quick replies. I remember reading that it was designed as it was for strength. My concern is attachment to a DIY table, from the pics I have seen I am not certain I can mount anything on the bottom of the table side rails and it appears nothing can be mounted to the side. So I am concerned about a design for a table without actually having the machine in hand
I think you are over-thinking the problem. The legs bolt onto the cross rails which are slotted for T-nuts. I can’t make out how they are attached to the side rails but would imagine it is the same arrangement. In any case, you would have zero issues attaching the main frame to a table/support of your own design.
What!? You mean those legs aren’t some kind of closed-loop-self-adjusting-earthquakeproof-magicbean devices? Ok, I’m no longer impressed with Sienci! (Of course, I’m kidding! )
What I did with my 3XXL when I bought it in 2019 was build a torsion-box table to make sure it sits perfectly flat. I don’t worry about “level” at all, but of course it is fairly level. Its been sitting on that table since then.
If I ever pull the trigger on buying another machine (AltMill), it will be mounted the same way. The drawing looks like I’ll have to build some brackets to do that with.
@chrismakesstuff You can get someone started on taking the top off those legs and making “L” brackets that will bolt down to a table top. Also, size their height to let the whole frame sit on the table, too. Hint, hint!
(Of course, I’m kidding!