I have my Shapeoko 4 in a crudely built enclosure made from angle iron and plexiglass. I want to build a nicer enclosure out of plywood with a window in the front and a top hinged front door. But, with that being said, I struggle to clean my enclosure, particularly underneath the CNC. I use a battery powered compressed air and my vacuum at the same time to clean up after each job. I’m super OCD and it seems there is an endless supply of wood shavings underneath.
Has anyone ever put their Shapeoko on some sort of riser/standoff?
Hi Will, thanks for the reply. When you say a sheet of foam, are you referring to the pink stuff used in home insulation? Is it fairly rigid and/or provide any other uses?
I’ve used a couple of different types — usually it’s the anti-fatigue puzzle mats as sold by Harbor Freight and similar, w/ a yoga mat on top to make cleanup easier for one machine — a sheet of foam from packaging from a machine delivery at work (basically it’s a mattress topper) for my SO Pro.
Folks have used the insulation foam to good effect though — I’ve just been too cheap/lazy/forgetful to go that route 'cause it’d require remembering when I’m out and about w/ my truck or making a special trip.
I have an SO3 XXL and they have a built in defect. The defect is the center support tends to sag. I built a torsion box and put the 3/4" rigid foam under it after removing the leveling feet. The whole base of the machine is supported and the sag in the middle is gone. The SO4 is built different but the rigid foam makes the base more stable and likely reduces noise. The rigid foam is $10-20.00 a sheet so it is very cheap. What @WillAdams suggested is also inexpensive.
The only caveat to your OCD is what is under the machine does not really hurt anything. I understand the need for a clean and orderly shop but you can go too far. After all this is supposed to be a fun hobby and not add stress about things that dont matter. The world is full of stress and everyday we decide what to worry about and what to let go.
Building an enclosure is a good solution for many but it usually complicates access to the machine for maintenance and cleaning. The only solution for that is to make doors that raise up on all 4 sides and the machine table to have rollers on it to roll it out so you can have easy access to cleaning and maintenance.
I have a bunch of Dewalt 20v power tools. I bought a little blower from Amazon that uses the Dewalt batteries. It is not real strong like my 120V blower but because is is not so strong it very good at cleaning machines without blowing dust every where. So maybe look at a cheap blower to help with cleaning and general maintenance.
If you have a different power tool ecosystem they may make some to fit your existing batteries. But my little blower has been very useful for cleaning things like my lathe. I vaccum up the big stuff but then use the little blower to get places I cannot get with the shop vac.
I got foam insulation tape, like the stuff to go around doors and windows. board. 3/8 thick and 1" wide and filled in the slots on the 2 sides of the spoil board. Then I cut Styrofoam into a strip maybe 2" wide and filled the gap between the back of the board and the enclosure. Keeps the dust and chip contained sort of. 4XL