I just got my machine today. Did not realize it did not come with the spoiler boards. I knew it didn’t have the T track. What is the best place to find the spoiler boards and T tracks?
@Blackburn MDF from the big box stores. But it depends on how you want to build your base and spoil board/wasteboard. And which machine you got.
@Blackburn Welcome to the group, Ben. I’ve moved your post to a more appropriate category. As @Chucky_ott said, most of the users here use MDF for their spoilboard. You can search and find many discussions on tables and spoilboards.
It doesn’t come with one since there are so many variations on how someone may want to set it up. If you are new to CNC this is one of those things that you may agonize over what to do. If you are not in a hurry I’d suggest doing what @gwilki said and look at the examples on this forum. You can also check YouTube for lots of examples. It doesn’t just have to be an Altmill/Longmill to get ideas from. If you are in a hurry you can always just do the simplest and just fasten 2 sheets of MDF that you pickup at a local store as mentioned above. You’ll then have to think about how to fasten your workpieces to that MDF which may even be just using wood screws.
If you do want to use T tracks you can pick them up on Amazon. They should come with wood screws that will fasten down to the first layer of spoil board (usually MDF). You’ll then have to cut slats of MDF to fit between the T tracks. I used a job site table saw. Be forewarned that MDF is extremely dusty when cutting (I cut mine outside). To fasten those MDF slats to the first layer of MDF you can either countersink holes and screw them down or glue them. I chose to counter sink holes and screw them down. I used the CNC itself to countersink the holes which forced me to learn the basics of the CAD/CAM program. You also need to make sure not to use a downcut bit if you do this. Either an upcut or compression flat bottom bit. I held the slats in place for the CNC by using a wood clamp on both ends of the slat so it wouldn’t move while CNC cut the holes.