Flip table - Shapeoko 5 4x4

[tobwhy (Toby)]

Context:
I recently purchased a shapeoko 5 4x4 with 80mm spindle. I have narrow doorways in my house.

Though I haven’t had a need to move my older shapeoko pro from where it’s been set up the past few years (except last month), I was considering a new table design for this new shapeoko 5 thats more robust than what I currently got (a sheet of 25mm mdf with 4 wooden batten legs screwed into it) which sways a bunch as my SPro gantry moves.

Because of the need to account for narrow doorways, my table would need to be made up of 2 narrow tables fastened together at a minimum so it could be moved out, if needed. I made a robust 2-table design in CAD and was ready to execute

…but then I was reminded of this flip-table design:

Woodworking: Making Fisher's Mobile Assembly Table

I remember seeing these a year or two ago but since forgot about them - until now. Now, I don’t know if I should instead be going for this style of design, and mount the shapeoko 5 through the table surface via the ends of the 4 cross-braces of the hybrid table with coachbolts and nuts.

I have an 2-part enclosure (for the same doorway reason above) I’ve made that would also need to be accounted for in this flip-table design consideration. I guess the benefit of the flip-table approach is I can be ready to move it with 5 minutes of effort and it’s easier to transport as no disassembly is required. However, it’s a bit more effort to design with more unknowns around rigidity.

Question:

• Should I go for my 2-table design (think standard big table you all make but split in half and fastened together) or this flip-table design as described above?

[Redlander (Tim Jones)]

I used 4x4 Oak dunnage for my table legs, based on how the S5Pro can accelerate I would be wary of the stability of that design. I’m not saying it’s not a good design, perhaps a 4x2 would be a better fit.

Given your options I would choose the two table “breakdown” choice, I believe it would give you a much better suited platform for the 4x4.

[SLCJedi (Josh Tenny)]

Since bolting down the machine to the table is not recommended due to that forcing table un-flat-ness into the machine, I wouldn’t recommend the flip table. I’ve seen tables that raise to the ceiling on a lift then rest on legs when in operation. That seems a more optimal solution machine wise.