Isn’t there a chance of “hitting” the T-slots if you have a workpiece that spans more than 2 of the slots and you need to thrucut?
I may not have been clear and the picture isn’t great at showing it.
In my original design I routed out grooves into the table itself, set the T-Track in those grooves with just enough sticking up (1/8 inch) to act as a guide to put in the 1/2 thick strips of the spoil board. This means that there is 3/8 inch of “meat” above the T-Track. The picture I posted is with just the table (no spoil board parts) except one on the far right side thats a bit hard to tell that its different.
When I redo this, I am not going to cut the groove, which with 3/8 inch T-Track and 1/2 inch MDF, that will still leave me 1/8 inch of “meat” to cut into before hitting any of the tracks.
1 Like
Ah, then I get it!
Looks like mine, except, you know, NICE. My t tracks are 3d printed, so my spoilboard strips lay over the tops. That keeps them from flexing up and breaking when I REALLY want to crank down.
2 Likes
I like these solutions best because if you really damage a section, you can easily replace a single strip rather than live with it until it’s bad enough to justify building a whole new spoil board.
1 Like
WHEN
4 Likes
Hmmmm ok so now I’m leaning towards t-track. Really appreciate everyone’s comments. I think I might even go for a hybrid version. I really like the concept of just being able to swap out a smaller section when you mess it up rather than having to do the whole thing. 
What is that you are cutting out there?
It’s pretty great. Replacing a section is as easy as cutting a strip on the table saw and then screwing it down. You can even pre-cut a few replacements so they are ready to go.
I did go a step further and I have threaded inserts on the table itself, so I can bolt the strips down. You can see these in the picture I posted. I did this so that I wasn’t constantly screwing directly into the table in the same spots each time I swapped strips out.
1 Like
@thedevilsjester This was my original plan but then I realized that it was going to add ~$130 to my build for Inca t-slots and my table size. Do you have a more cost effective recommendation?
I thought you could get generic t slot track from amazon or banggood. I love incra stuff, but I can’t imagine it would be that different from the cheap stuff.
1 Like
Print some. There are 3 or 4 versions on thingiverse. You can see it sticking out the end on the left. If you only vcarve, it might be good as is, but you’ll have do be gentle. Mine started to crack after repeated flexing (or maybe it was my overconfidence).
That’s why I have the boards on top now. I can REALLY crank those suckers down with zero worry. Had to stretch these a little in the z to make them sit level with my 1/2 inch spacer boards. Gives extra room for sliding my boots already.
1 Like
Dovetail slots like the MicroJig MatchFit system. While they sell a fancy pair of bits for making th slots, they also say any 14* dovetail bit will work. They sell hardware packs, and a little searching on Thingiverse (or similar sites) will find printable alternatives.
2 Likes
Wish I’d seen THOSE before. I don’t think i can rout a straight line, but I can cut a bevel on my table saw well enough. Cut some strips, nail them down with a spacer for the right gap, bada Bing bada boom, done in an afternoon. Took me a week to print all my t-track.
Or, get a dovetail bit that fits in your CNC and use it to make the grooves. Might want to run a straight groove first, then follow with the dovetail bit to reduce the load on the dovetail bit and provide for better chip evacuation.
2 Likes
I always struggle with how to use the cnc to make a spoilboard bigger than the cut area of my cnc. After all, I want to be able to clamp from outside the area, too.
Now, using the big cnc to make a spoilboard for the small cnc…that is probable gonna happen now, because I’ve already got a crappy HF bit that fits the 611. Going to wait for the primo rebuild, so a couple months or a little more, but it’s gonna happen.
The table saw idea has now officially caught my attention.
As far as routing them. I’ve planned mine machine to have about an inch more travel in X and Y then my largest desired workpiece. Hopefully that will give me enough wiggle room to get them cut by the CNC itself. I’ve cut the rail tubes, but not built the table yet. Original plan is to have a reversible spoilboard - flat (and sealed) on one side for vacuum hold-down of foam sheets, and a grid of dovetails slots on the other for clamping.
Now I’m thinking that cutting on the tablesaw will be a lot faster, and I could either glue the dovetail pieces to a piece of 1/4" MDF, or just have a second spoilboard that laid over the slots…
Rats. Time do dive back into “thinking this through before committing to a table design.”
1 Like
I’m not sure if you deserve “you’re welcome” or “I’m sorry”
1 Like
Both work! Thanks for the good idea!
1 Like