I’ve decided to go with t-track with strips of wasteboard in between.
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Great ideas guys. Thanks for posting. Way easier to share ideas here than on facebook. If you can help us by encouraging others to come on here I think we could really make this forum into a powerful resource for everyone.
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I came across this video and thought it might be worth a go as an alternative to T slots on the spoilboard
Check it out: https://youtu.be/3uTsQ3dYRrk
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We had a large amount of slightly damaged pallet racking at work. I’ve completed the cut list and will weld it together to form a table top with detachable legs. Pics to follow at some point…
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Right on that should be interesting.
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Built a quick table - will build an enclosure around it in the coming days / weeks (It is cold out after all)
I have a piece of 3/4 plywood I am going to put in the bottom for a shelf. I was also considering a clever idea my friend had, since I have a motorcycle tire machine bolted to the floor, I might cut out a slot in the bottom shelf and put the CNC machine over the tire machine - since I can’t use that space anyway, way not cover it up with the CNC table. Also has the side benefit of making sureI can’t whack my shins on the darned tire machine
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So, I think I’m going to skip the fancy flip table. My current plans are to build a simple table, much like Mike’s. I’m hatching a plan, though, to build a sound-proof box for my vacuum underneath one corner. Another corner will have a cyclone separator and maybe a ~30 gallon dust collection bin. Then some drawers in the front.
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Here is the table finished - I made a slot for it to sit over top my no-mar tire changer. It only gets used every so often, and takes up space, so I figured this was a simple way to optimize.
Down side is that part of the floor is not quite as level as the original spot. so now it is shimmed.
@David I am going to just cut out a hole in the front of my table so I can drop in vertical stock. Since I have multiple layers of wood, I figure I can just out something then have a removable insert for the spoil board. Not sure how I will do that yet, or even if I will, if I do I will post how I did it.
Cut a few simple sample projects out, and got the machine dialed in - so far it has been working great!
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Looks great! Can you share bit size/type, workpiece material and your feeds and speeds with us? Those of us in the cheap seats still waiting for our machines would love to understand how the performance is in different materials.
Thanks!
-Jeff
Unfortunately I was using the defaults in carbide create - so very slow. Have been using pine, and some purpleheart, both cut pretty well. Cut out simple boxes in both.
Was using the included 1/4 downcut endmill, quality on the endmills seems good to me.
I would have gotten some more cutting in but had to deal with some car troubles and things like that. Want to get out and get some more wood and try some other projects.
I am also not sure if i need to calibrate the machine or not. will have to measure my next project and see if it if the right size!
Mike
Here are some pictures of the table I just finished for a 30x30 Longmill. Most of the ideas came from posts here and on the FB page. Any questions/suggestions, don’t hesitate to engage.!
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New user, only a single pic was permitted. Here’s another; take note to the z-axis wire that has been extended.
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This arrived in my inbox this morning (the plans, not the actual workbench - that would be ridiculous). Looks like a good solution for anyone who is spacialy challenged and very ambitious. If I hadn’t already built a work station for my Longmill I would have considered it.
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That is so awsome! I am totally jealous.
I was wondering do you think self leveling epoxy would work under the waste board , to have a perfect flat area to begin with
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It would but you would want to make sure that its good and hard before you do anything with it. Why? Just wondering too how would you attach your waste board to it?
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i have some threaded inserts ill drill into it gonna use T track and m d f like many others on here im just looking for a way to not have to surface it anytime I want to replace a strip of the waste board
Initially I’m going to build it and try it out on the Ikea kitchen counter workbench I mentioned above but I’m settling in on formally vertically mounting it to the wall or perhaps on a hinge that allows me to kick it out 15 to 20 degrees like an easel (just to make it easier to load the workpiece and to clear the sills on the windows that book end the only wall space I have). When not in use it will likely hang flat in that area.
@chrismakesstuff Any reason I couldn’t use it vertically all the time? Dust collection will be challenging is one thing that has occured to me, but I should be able to design around that. Might even be more effective to have gravity bring the dust down to trough and collect it from there?
-Jeff
The main difficulty that’s introduced is that setting up stock material for cutting becomes a little more finicky, especially if it’s heavier material. The LongMill is strong enough to run in a permanent vertical orientation, however as I’ve mentioned to others before you should expect that the anti-backlash nuts and potentially some of the other linear motion components for the Y-axis will wear out more quickly than if the machine is horizontal. If you’d like to combat this, it shouldn’t be too large a task to incorporate a counter-weight system that helps to offset the added weight of the X and Z-axes which act on the Y-axis when the LongMill is vertical.
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