Full supporting waste board

[bpk9p4 (Bradley)]

i finally got around to making a torsion table for my shapeoko yesterday. The next step is to get ride of the flex in the waste board. Was wondering how other people have gone about supporting there waste board. My best idea so far is taking the feet off and putting some 1/2 mdf under the waste board

[WillAdams (William Adams (Carbide 3D))]

The usual suggestion is foam — and some folks will bolt the machine to the torsion box with the foam in-between — if nothing else, it seems to dampen resonant vibrations and to deaden the sound a bit.

I cheaped out and used two sections of a Harbor Freight anti-fatigue mat. Most folks go and buy a sheet of 1/2" or 1" insulating foam from a big box store.

[gdon_2003 (Guy Donham)]

I have seen some people remove the leveling feet and then use the rigid foam under the machine. Just let the machine settle for a few days so the machine settles into the foam. You could use more flexible foam but I would use the rigid foam that is 3/4 in thick like they use for exterior walls. The cost is between $10.00-15.00 at big box stores or any lumber supply store.

[bpk9p4 (Bradley)]

Does the foam decrease the deflection of the waste board? Seems like you would want something a little more rigid but I could be wrong

[WillAdams (William Adams (Carbide 3D))]

Yes, it does seem to support and spread out the load sufficiently to help address the sag.

[Julien]

I’m all for the “drop the feet and lay it on a 1/2” MDF + thin foam", just remember to make a few pockets on the MDF surface where the feet used to be as well as in the various places where the welded nuts protrude from underneath the steel frame. Below is my example (for a small SO3 and while installing an aluminium bed, but the principle applies)

Aluminium Threaded Table - Design for the UK & EU

I started assembling the bed onto the end plates, and I was sitting on the fence about whether or not to get rid of the leveling feet (there seems to be two schools of thought in this community from the threads I read, some have removed them and seem to be happy with the result, while others seem to think that the leveling capability is paramount…). Removing the feet leaves protuding welded nuts in contact with the underlying surface though. Then I looked at the MDF bed I had just removed and th…

There are also a variety of options where people just added extra adjustable feet under machine/wasteboard. Here’s one example, I can’t seem to find the one I had in mind but it is similar: threaded insert installed on the middle of the bottom side of the wasteboard, screw leveling feet into that, adjust height to compensate for sag, done.

Flex with Leveling Feet

I had two feet break in my recent move(no clue how) and replaced all four with a part from Amazon that WillAdams recommendedthat come 5 to a package, and after installing them I ordered an another package and installed with captive nuts in the table top-so that they snug up to the middle rail under the Wasteboard on my XXL, between the middle fasteners in the three formed steel supports No play what so ever, and adjustable to keep it that way. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

[bpk9p4 (Bradley)]

I went out and got some foam today and put it under the waste board. I was pleasantly surprised by the result. Great advice. Was a cheap, easy and good solution