I recently got a Shapeoko 3XXL around Christmas time and its been great to learn on.
Now that I have done a few projects, I’ve found one of its main weaknesses, the mounting options are pretty poor in my opinion. Which brings me to the new “Hybird Table” which is standard on all the new machines. I was looking into it and is there any main reason people aren’t upgrading to the new Hybrid table? If I can just get the T track it seems easy enough to do. Would I sacrifice rigidity by doing this? My current table has a diffrent type of T track (4 rows in between peices of MDF) but of course, it isn’t the specific one the Hybird table uses so I can’t use any of the nice new mounts. I notice that Carbide 3D sells the Hybrid Table Extrusions which seem like all I need, but its an odd, vauge listing. From the other fourms i’ve read, I should contact stupport to get more/new T track.
If anyone has done this or has anyguidance anything is appreciated!
The reason folks don’t upgrade to the Hybrid T-track table is that it has not been offered as an official upgrade due to economics of scale and pricing consideration. The product listing for Hybrid T-tracks should be pretty specific — it’s only for use by folks who purchased an SO4 when it was available in a configuration w/o T-tracks.
If you want a Hybrid T-track, our recommendation would be to sell the SO3 and buy an SO4 or SO Pro.
The T-tracks which were offered on the SO3 were a good value (they were were less than the T-tracks which I purchased from Woodcraft) and afford a reasonable clamping solution — it’s just that their shorter height means that the hardware used in them can’t have as much female thread length, so one needs a myriad of bolts to effectively clamp w/o using a second nut and having things project quite high.
One alternative is to use nylon M6 or 1/4"-20 bolts inserted head first — just cut them off at a given length, and repeat until one has a collection of bolts in lengths which match the work which you do — your local specialty hardware supplier (e.g., Fastenal or Grainger) will have them for short money, esp. if one goes in w/ cash in my experience (they’ll take your purchase and add it to that of a larger account so that you get the best possible pricing and they don’t have to do the paperwork of setting up a new account).
I have an SO3 XXL with HDZ. I attached a document that might help with a new spoilboard. I bought a used SO3 XL that had the t-track spoilboard and hated it. Opinions vary on spoilboard types but for me the threaded spoilboard with cam clamps and an L bracket has worked well for me. On the XL I removed the t-track and gave it to another forum member.
Here is a CC v8 version of my L bracket and cam clamps. long_L_bracket.c2d (304 KB)
The SO3 XXL has an issue with its steel frame. The machine is quite solid but the center of the spoilboard tends to sag. You have the original MDF base and then a spoilboard on top of that so it is quite heavy. There are two solutions. You can put a wooden block in the center of your spoilboard on the bottom. The second option is to remove the leveling feet and place the SO3 on rubber mats or rigid foam. The rubber mats can be bought very cheaply at Walmart or Harbor Freight as exercise mats. You can also go to a building supply and buy a sheet of foam and then cut it to fit under your SO3. I went a step further and built a torsion box for my SO3 to sit on. I already had a table and then built the torsion box. It provides excellent stability.
Here is a picture of my SO3 with torsion box. On the spoilboard is a tiling job I made for a friend of a pattern for rockers on a rocking chair for a new grand baby to be rocked to sleep.
Do you think it would be possible to get the threaded inserts that have the same thread type as the “Crush it nuts and bolts” or would that not be worth the cost. That PDF will definitely steer me in the right direction thank you!
This was created for 1/4"-20 tee nuts and may need to be changed if using metric tee nuts. I have the spacing at 2" and that seems to work well for getting clamps to clamp on projects.
The reason I like tee nuts is I can have the metal top of the tee nut well below the surface of the spoilboard so I dont clip them when cutting through material. My spoilboard is 3/4" MDF and I get 5/16" long tee nuts that are inserted from the bottom. The threaded inserts would work but they are at the surface and are just waiting to be cut into by the router. If you look at the spoilboard in the picture you can see that the top of my tee nuts are recessed to avoid hitting them.
One thing to consider if you use tee nuts and/or threaded inserts is the screw lengths you use. You need to trim any bolts you use in clamps to make sure they dont bottom out on the stock base of the SO3. If the bolts are too long it will raise up the spoilboard causing your projects to not be cut evenly on the surface or bottom because the spoilboard is bowed up.
You could always countersink the inserts to eliminate the risk of hitting them with an andmill. Inserts are 1/2" so there’s a 1/4" to play with if the spoilboard is 3/4"
I use threaded inserts for some things in the shop. The countersink idea would work but the issue I have with threaded inserts is if they start crooked there is little hope of getting them in straight. The tee nuts go in the bottom and you hammer them in. Either will work for a threaded spoilboard. When I replace my spoilboard I just knock out the old ones and reuse them. There are always a few that are not reusable but I keep a bag for general use. If you want to use threaded inserts get the ones that go in with an allen wrench. The ones with a slot for a straight bladed screw drive are easy to get stripped and you can get them in or out.
I added it to mine and works great I have the xxl so I did 4" slats. You could do smaller if it makes sense for your machine. Used powertec T track from Amazon been very happy with it.
Good idea… I didn’t think of that.