Okay, I’m missing something obvious here, but I’ve combed through the Google and this forum, and can’t find an answer.
I’ve had an XL for 5 weeks, and it is wonderful. I want to make a supplemental/sacrificial wasteboard, but I’m not sure what size I should cut the MDF. If I cut it the whole size of the existing bed, it would be approximately 40.5" wide and 23.5" deep. However, the bit can only reach 32.5" wide and 15.5" deep (assuming it doesn’t go past the table).
If I make the waste board the larger size, and then go to level/resurface, it will obviously only resurface what the bit can reach, and then if I put any kind of clamp system on it, won’t the clamp be at a different height than the actual cutting area?
Alternatively, if I make the waste board the smaller size, and resurface, aren’t I restricting my maximum cutting size since I then can only cut what can be clamped within the 32.5x15.15 surface?
I agree that I might be overthinking this, but I’m not sure what to do. Any ideas or thoughts or opinions are welcome!
I cut my XL wasteboard larger, drilled a hole every 2 in the work area and used T-nuts but I think the next one will be the size of the work area with T-nuts and place regular MDF of the sides and back to make the surface close to the right height and support my work piece. I may add some T-nuts on the side to use if I need to hold a large work piece. The supplementary pieces could also be surfaced independently to make them as close to the height of the wasteboard if they are interfering with the work piece but I also use a lot of masking tape and glue to hold my work pieces.
Check out Jason on YouTube at StuffToKeepYouEntertained. He has an XL and has a video posted on creating a wasteboard and clamps and stuff for an XL.
I’m sure that there are others out there as well, but Jason’s channel is kinda fun to watch. It really helped me find my way. It also helped me to decide on getting the XXL rather than the XL.
Yes, you’re overthinking this a bit. The original wasteboard is bigger than the cutting area…and it works great…right? If you surface the cutting area it -will- be a bit lower - that’s not a problem, clamping is from the top down in most cases - the “ledge” at the edge of the cutting area just isn’t in the way. The only time this is really an issue is when you’re setting up something that overlaps out of the cutting area - and then you just shim under it so the whole thing is raised a bit. In general, that little edge is kind of a nice marker for where the cutting area actually is.
Surfacing an inset into a board can be a problem if one wishes to clamp stock which is larger than the matchine’s working area — still wrestling with that myself — I usually wind up sticking a board or sheet of something suitably sized underneath, but it never works out as nicely as I plan, so I usually end up cutting the stock shorter, which results in more scrap offcuts.