First, am I posting these questions in the correct topic, or no?
Now…
I was intending on putting my machine on my main workbench, but the y-axis of the machine is 41" long and my workbench is only 39", If so it overhangs a few inches.
So, I am intending to build a table to set my machine on, I have the floor space, that isn’t an issue. I am curious with everybody’s knowledge on here, if there is anything I should consider when building it?
I know some things are personal preference, but I wondered if anybody built theirs with with something that made the table more useful, more functional, or easier to use, etc…or something you wished you had done for your own table?
I’m wondering if I should make it shorter, only 2 feet high, so it will be easier when reaching across to secure hold down fittings? Things like that.
Anyway, thank you in advance if you are able to reply.
I built mine conservatively so I didn’t have to buy 2 more sheets of 3/4” plywood. I had to build it low to store stuff replaced by its foot print. I just raised the roof of the enclosure to add a water cooled spindle. Never did store anything useful other than a laptop to run carbide motion.
I’ve got a 3 car extra deep garage. My truck stays outside and for the last month my wife’s car is outside as well.
Build it big enough the first time snd you will not have the regrets that I have.
having at least 6" in front of the machine, maybe even 10" is highly useful. This is where you change bits, and having a bit of space is super useful… if the bit falls out as part of a bit change, you can have it drop on a kitchen spunge you put there on your table (the $1 for that spunge is a good investment, trust me on that), or you can have it drop on the floor… floor is ungood
Mine is at 36" (I bought a leg-kit-add-your-own-twobyfour kit on amazon that defined that) and I’m quite happy with the height. I often look at the cut as it happens, that helps me learn how to optimize toolpaths. If you make it too low you won’t normally be doing that.
What I did is make a hole in the surface near the electronics box so that I could feed all wires down, and then I nailed a few inches of https://smile.amazon.com/STARVAST-Cleaner-Engraving-Machine-Spindle/dp/B07VQX6CZG/ over it to act as a dust barrier (there’s many of similar items at wildly different price levels so poke around a bit)… that worked out great.
Get an emergency stop that feeds a power strip that has all electronics on it, for example https://smile.amazon.com/Rockler-Safety-Power-Tool-Switch/dp/B001DT13B2 but again, many similar options exist. I put this at the front of my enclosure… when things go bad when I make a mistake… one button to shut it all down instantly and avoid a bigger mess.
On the sides… this in part is where chips will end up no matter how good you do dust collection, give your self enough space to be able to get the vacuum hose there and clean them up once in a while… if you do it too close to the exact size of the machine that becomes a pain.
If you enclose the space… add enough lighting. I did not do that initially and then had to retrofit something… there really is no such thing as too much light.
I’ve since removed the enclosure, preferring amore effective dust extraction, and reduced the depth by about three inches so my Shapeoko sits flush with the edge of the workbench, as I was hoping to cut the edges of boards to produce fancy dovetail joints.
Thank you Phil! This is the exact type of info I’m looking for. I know if I build it, I could always revise it and rebuild it again, but that is counter-productive.
