I’m waiting for my Shapeoko 4 XL to arrive. I’m a little tight for space and was hoping to put my new machine on a folding work table attached to a wall. Hoping someone can tell me, can the machine be secured to the top of the table so when not in use I can fold the table down. Could find anything specific in the install manual. Thanks.
We recommend against bolting a machine down, unless the surface it is bolted to is more rigid and flatter/truer than the machine structure — the best option here is to put the machine on a platform which is attached to pulleys and cables which allow lifting it up to the ceiling out of the way.
That said, I did put one of my SO3 (Standard size) machines on a cart:
since then I have shuffled things around a bit and the current setup uses an aluminum threaded baseplate bolted to a sheet of MDF w/ a layer of foam in-between.
You won’t hurt the machine rotating it 90 against a wall. It could actually run like that if you take into account reduced feed rates feed the gantry up.
As has been said the issue is having a flat and stiff enough surface to mount it to that won’t cause the machine to twist or flex when moved.
I would recommend only using your Shapeoko on the horizontal plane. However you can lift it up out of the way. However the gantry is quite heavy so make sure you either tie it down or have it so the gantry weight will be in the down position (depending on which way you fold it up). So jog it to the back if you are lifting the machine front up so the weight of the gantry, router and Z wont crash into the mechanical stops of the Shapeoko.
Thanks for the feedback. I guess I have some thinking to do on this.
What my plan was I’m going to use 1-1/8” thick MDO plywood for the base. Super strong and will not flex. The base will also be very true due to the phenolic resin overlay. This plywood is used for large concrete forms and exterior signs.
The machine will always be used in the horizontal position. When not in use it will be folded down in the vertical position.