Hey, those dovetail nuts are pretty cool. I’ve never seen them before. They are cheap enough but shipping would change that, if they even ship to Canada.
They would be very easy to make. You might even be able to 3D print them.
My only concern would be over tightening one and splitting a chunk off the spoil board.
My plan at the moment is to use T-nuts for the spoil board but I’m open to other ideas. Like adding a t-nut to each square on the dovetailed spoil board you have. Another idea is to be able to slide out the existing spoil board and slide in a vacuum table in its place.
Amazon.ca shows the match fit hardware is available in Canada.
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I actually have an enclosure I built some time ago for my previous CNC machine which will fit the LongMill (12x12). My plan is to use a base board of 3/4" MDF with 1/4" nuts installed, topped with a replaceable waste board that will be bolted into the 1/4" nuts to keep it in place. The Longmill itself will be mounted on 4" strips of 3/4" MDF that are glued to the base board. In the future, I’ll put in T-tracks and the waste board will become strips of wasteboard instead of one piece.
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In the long run, I don’t have to worry about milling through T-tracks and when my wasteboard gets worn down, I’ll just make another.
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My plan is to use T-tracks that are shorter than the 3/4" waste board, so it would be unlikely they would get cut.
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Very nice - What do you have as the pivot ? Assuming some threaded rod or similar?
Mike
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Very cool! I like that, I would not have thought a lazy susan could hold a lateral load like that.
Mike
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Love the exterior window for longer applications!!!
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The barstool swivel is rated for 500lbs each. It should be more than enough for what I’m looking to do.
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Right, I get that - I just always assumed that the load rating was for a vertical load with the swivel sitting horizontally.
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I am not expecting my longmill till March, but I have been kicking around an idea for my table. I really like your design and like how you are going to put the Mill on strips to make changing the spoilboard easier. That is exactly what I was thinking of doing, it just seems like a wise thing to do. I was thinking of doing two sheets of 3/4 plywood for the main table, but now I might go with a torsion box.
A torsion box really will provide the flattest surface if done right. If you’re assembling plywood with wood screws, I would recommend using screws that are long enough that all the treads are in the partitions between the top and bottom layers. This allows the screws to pull the pieces together eliminating any gap between the parts. So if the partition pieces are properly cut your torsion box will be as flat as the material allows. Using shorter screws that would result in thread in both the top layer and the partitions and will not close a gap unless they are tightly clamped prior to driving the screws.
If you’re using MDF you should use particle board screws which I believe are fully threaded. That means you must fully clamp the parts before driving the screws or drill pilot holes in the top and bottom that are as large or larger than the major thread diameter. The partitions will also need pilot hole but these will be smaller so the fastener threads engage the MDF. So you can see that this complicates thing a little. Take the time to get good results and your spoil boards will need little if any surfacing.
I have been thinking about using dados to build my torsion box and I think I’m going to pass because it adds another layer of complexity. Getting the dado depth consistent would be critical to a flat surface. It might work OK if you cut dados with router as it would ride along any curvature in the sheet stock giving fairly consistent depth. On the other hand, cutting dados on the table saw could be much more problematic. If you cut with the concave side down it would require considerable downward pressure to get consistent depth. Cutting with the concave side up would require the operator to rock the material to keep the material in contact with the table at the peak of the blade arc.
Of course, you could use any method you want and just flatten the final product or ignore the torsion box and just flatten your spoil board. I’m of the opinion that the more accurate your initial effort the easier your life will be going forward.
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I love this! Your setup looks really similar to my shop - except better organized. 
I even have a window in about the same place, the lumber rack above, and a radial saw to the right of where I plan to put the LongMill when it arrives.
The radial already sticks out about 36" from the wall, but my shop is kind of narrow and adding another 12" or so on that for the LongMill is going to make it feel even more crowded. This looks like a great solution to that problem. Folded up it would be no wider than what I already have, and when folded down I can just deal with losing a little floorspace temporarily.
Do you have it on wheels? That would be perfect because then it could be rolled away from the wall to do longer stock too.
Are you planning to publish your plans anywhere?
The table is on wheels. I didn’t make plans.
I can take pictures or measurements of anything you may need
Space limitations have prevented me from acquiring a CNC in the past. My shop is in one half of a two car garage because my boss insists on parking her car on her half. I managed to claim the ‘air rights’ and decided to mount my longmill on a platform that I could hoist out of the way when not in use. I bought a Racor 4’x4’ ceiling lift with a 250 lb capacity on Amazon for around $250 US. It works great. When lowered, I clamp it to the MFT top on my workbench to keep it from swinging around.
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Where did you get the lift? I might make use of one in the future.
