I always thought my 3 XL had a maximum Y axis cut of 16 in. At least this is what the specs were saying. Well today I was pleasantly surprised!
I cut a 16.75 in long rectangle in plywood on my Y axis.
The rectangle was placed 1/8 in from my toolpath 0 and it was an outside cut! So it actually traveled very close to 17 in!
I added another 3/4 in spoil board over my existing spoil board and I was able to utilize the extra Y axis travel but I thought I would still be limited to 16 in.
I needed to cut some 16.75 in x21 in speaker baffles for a customer and now I can do it!
Necessity is the mother of invention along with some luck LOL!
Hi Guy. The baffle was actually 20in wide for my 1x12 speaker cabs so I needed the extra width of the x axis for that cut. I used the shorter y axis for the 16.75in cut.
I think down the road I may get a bigger machine just to make these large cuts easier to setup but for now it works great!
I have a SO3 XXL and I have used the full capacity a few times. It is an old saying:
“Better have it and not need it rather than need it and not have it.”
Some day I may sell the SO3 and buy the 4x4 SO5. However the SO3 XXL meets my every need right now but I can dream. Due to my cheap nature the SO 6,7 or 8 may out when I get ready.
I use the option to cut off the front of the machine to stand things on end/side and v-carve in to the side of them where the part would otherwise be too tall to fit under the spindle. Very useful.
