I see the new update today with mounting the vortex. Awesome job Sienci.
Ready to receive mine and get started, but had a question.
Have you tried creating a pocket for the Vortex to sit in? Seems like that might be an obvious choice to help with the X alignment. Was just wondering if you thought off/tried this? I will probably attempt it and would like to know if you ran into any problems and decided against recommending this.
Hey @Shipwreck,
Excited for you to receive your Vortex and get rolling! Great question…
Since the Longmill drills out the holes for your threaded inserts, there is no need for a pocket to sit in. It will be perfectly aligned with what your machine thinks X is and you can mount the Vortex and remove it from those threaded inserts at any time.
So six (10 if you got the extension) countersunk, threaded inserts instead of a large moat in your wasteboard seem to do the trick nicely.
Cheers,
Stephen
@Shipwreck FWIW, I mount mine by clamping it using clamps in my t-track. This way, I don’t need to deal with inserts when surfacing my spoil board. I have locator holes across the width of my spoil board. I put aluminum dowels into them when I am lining up picture frame blanks. I bored the holes using the LM, so I know that they are parallel with the X axis. I just butt the Vortex rail against them and clamp it in place. It’s very easy to remove the Vortex when I am not using it.
@gwilki thanks, thats a great idea.
I think i will use that in the interim.
I’m redesigning my whole table top, it is a little flimsy. When I do I’m going to lay out my spoil board side to side, instead of front to back. Then I’m going to make the first or second one a cut out for vertical hold. Then make a second spoilboard and mount the vortex to that.
I’m thinking the vertical clamp will hold down the spoilboard pieces and make the process extremely easy to switch
@Shipwreck One thing to think about when mounting the Vortex to the “second spoil board” is that you don’t want to do anything that takes away travel from the Z axis. If your second spoil board will sit on top of the “main” one, you will be doing just that. Height above the chuck is tight as it is. You can’t afford to lose 3/4" by raising up the Vortex.
In the mounting instructions, Sienci makes a point of saying that, if your feet are below the level of your spoil board, you should raise them up. Mine were already on 3/4" thick strips to allow for easier squaring, that that was not an issue. But, on the two projects that I’ve done on the Vortex so far, it was clear that I did not have 3/4" between the top of the chuck and the end mill. So, if my feet were not raised, I would not have been able to align the bit with the X axis or set Z0.
Just IMHO. 
I think i may have done a poor job explaining.
spoil board with tracks going side to side. I’ll loosen a vice and be able to remove a spoil board. This will give me access to a vertical mount. I’ll mount the vortex on a spare spoil board with an extra piece on the bottom. The extra piece on bottom will go into the vice and secure it down. So in essence 2 interchangeable spoil boards. One with vortex permanently mounted and another for flat surface. When none are installed I’ll have access to a vertical vice.
@Shipwreck @StephenCampbell Shipwreck. Stephen has created a new sub-topic for rotary axis posts in the Add-ons topic.
I have moved your thread as the first to be published in this new category.