New Altmill mk2 4x4 owner here. Very excited to be part of the community. Assembled my unit and basic tests check out. It moves. It homes…etc. Note that I don’t have an ATC, but I’m using the air cooled 2.2kw spindle.
It is in my basement and I cannot use it until I build an enclosure for it. There is a really good thread on enclosures here Been hiding with an Altmil 2x4 build! - #80 by Imisky but there were a couple of things I didn’t understand.
Should the machine not be seated directly on the wood platform below and elevated slightly?
Does the machine need to be secured to the wood below or can its weight keep it down? The machine has so much power it is almost scary
What spoil board arrangement do you recommend for one that has an enclosure?
I have some woodworking experience and have scanned a lot of ideas for enclosure. I’ll be building something with removable panels to give me access from all sides paired with a powerful dust collector.
Not an AltMill owner but I think that had to do with accessing some grease fittings.
This was for a much slower machine, a Sainsmart 4040 but I 3D printed some ‘feet’ for it. The feet were fastened to the table and the corners of the frame went into a curved slot that matched the frame corners. That kept the mill in place while allowing it to be picked up and moved if needed. Maybe something like that could work if built strong enough. Just a thought.
I think comparing that Sainsmart to an AltMill is kind of like comparing a bunny rabbit to a bucking bronco with it’s tail on fire so bear that in mind!
Hey, thanks for finding my build thread interesting.
Should the machine not be seated directly on the wood platform below and elevated slightly?
Not necessarily need, the Altmill itself sits on legs without the center cross beams being supported. This is how I currently have our machine setup as well. Having said that, there is deflection in the middle of the table when force is applied. So if you are after micron level part accuracy, and plan on cutting hard materials like aluminum, it’s worth looking at addressing the deflection. For us, we plan on adding supports to the center of cross beams.
Does the machine need to be secured to the wood below or can its weight keep it down? The machine has so much power it is almost scary
If you aren’t going to use the legs that come with the unit. it’s best to hold down the unit to the table surface.
What spoil board arrangement do you recommend for one that has an enclosure?
You’ve got choices, and it will depend on what you want to do. but I would think about your use case. The spoilboard has less to do with the enclosure, more to do with how you foresee holding down your work piece.
MDF spoilboard, just use screws where ever you see fit to hold down your material (I use it still)
rails to add clamps, with MDF spoilboard, maybe dog holes, and side clamps
fixture plates, delrin, aluminum, your pick of material.
Thank you @_Michael and Eugene @Imisky ! I found the greasing nipples after a closer look and I underhand that issue with trying to raise it to make those more accessible. As far as deflection, I am contemplating a torsion box underneath the CNC. There are some logistical challenges finding a completely flat space on which to construct a 72x72 inch torsion box then lifting and transporting it to my basement. Doable with 1/2 inch plywood but I would need a lot of help if I use 3/4 so haven’t made up my mind yet. My floor is not perfectly level so I need a leg solution that accommodates that as well. I don’t see myself building a whole cabinet underneath, at least not right away. It’d take too long and I want to be using my cnc sooner than that!
I’ve actually reused the Altmill legs as part of a workbench so you can absolutely attach those to a torsion box. and then use the Altmill legs for additional shelving. So its totally viable, or you could just use the Altmill as intended with the legs and not a table.
I haven’t shared this as it was a new development lately, but the cabinet under the Altmill was probably unnecessary in the grander scheme of things. The shop vac we had was just loud and maybe old…it died recently…There are better shop vacs nowadays. We bought a new Dewalt shopvac for dust extraction for the Altmill and it’s so quiet out of the cabinet that it had me questioning the build of the cabinet. With the shopvac in the cabinet…We don’t even hear it at all. Now all we hear is the sounds of the endmills cutting the material and air compressor.
I just built a table and enclosure for my altmill 4x4. I cut the included legs down to about 4 inches and welded piece of angle iron across with a hole drilled for the leveling feet. Didnt have to worry bout torsion table. I just level the machine on the table same as you would with full length legs.
