Securing aluminum extrusions to the front of 5.1

[jeremiah.peschka]

I have a 4th axis rotary and I want to mount it along the Y-axis on my 4x4 Shapeoko 5. In order to protect the headstock from having an unfortunate collision with the cutter or spindle, I plan to mount the headstock outside of the machinable area using the mounting screws on the front of the machine.

Making the track for the tailstock to run along seems straightforward - aluminum extrusions. It also seems pretty straightforward to attach the aluminum extrusions to the bed - just make some extra holes and use some elbows.

Where I’m stick is attaching extrusions to use as supports for the headstock. I’ve come up with two ideas.

1. Somehow use the existing holes to affix aluminum extrusions to the front of the machine. I have no idea what this looks like.
2. Just drill holes exactly where I want them and use the same technique as for the bed - 90 degree elbows.

Am I missing something? Is there a better option? Is there somewhere I should go to educate myself?

[MadHatter]

Here’s one option.

Shapeoko 5.1 Pro

With the new extrusions and their 25mm hole spacing, that opens up using “25 Series” 80/20 extrusions and “25 Series” brackets and plates to mount to the front and rear extrusions. So, if you need to repeatably have something flush up against the front, you could do something like this: [image] [image] Or, if you need to have something hang over the front, you could so this: [image] [image] [image] I mean, you can always make your own brackets, but sometimes it’s just nice to be abl…

[jeremiah.peschka]

Brilliant! That overhang is perfect.

I appreciate that you shared the general idea, the names of parts, and then specific part numbers. This will help me get started ruining things