Allo everyone
I started building my table today. I got it all squared. It’s looking pretty good. I’ll add the side which will have a unistrout on them. I’ll add the top layer which will be at the same height of my table saw. Here are some starting pics.
Nice shop. Jet table saw, RAS, joiner. Looks like a good and flat bed. PCan’t wait to see what you make with the Low Rider.
That is a sturdy looking table, dang!
Dude that looks almost exactly like a table I designed for the lowrider![attachment file=“LR2 Table v5.jpg”]
It looks great!
So here is a bit of an update. Did a Crown Test with Ryan’s gcode. Its OK but it looks a bit off in places. I probably need to get a sharper pencil. Anybody has ideas?
[attachment file=71438]
My next step is to deal with all the cables and then figure out where and how to place the electronics.
Lesson learned, uni strut can be off. I built the table thinking massive would be better but now, not so sure. oh well.
I wouldn’t worry about that drawing so much that pen mount does not lend itself to accuracy (mounted stiff on the far end and no spring). Get a tool on there and try it out. Smaller is better but you can only go as small as your largest project.
Interesting. It seems like when you start with a huge CNC like this, you can go crazy looking for flat. My recommendation is to just bassically ignore it for a while, and get some through cuts cut. If you’re within ~5mm across the whole sheet of plywood, that’s usable. Get some CAM and setup practice, and then you can start optimizing the flatness. You’ll also learn a lot about where it matters and where it doesn’t and how to optimize your workflow to reduce it’s impact.
For example, when I did the carving on my MP3DP, I was using a v-bit to do precise carving for the logos, which requires very good Z. I used the same origin for all the cuts, but I split the carving into areas that were manageable (about 12" across). When I did my setup, I added an extra step of jogging to where the design would be cut, and finding a good Z value there, right in the middle. The error in Z was only the error in that area, which was very accurate for a 12" V carving. I proceded to “learn” a few other things :), but the flatness worked out fine. When I went to cut out the parts, I just added 2mm or so to the final cut depth, and any unflatness was just cutting into the spoil board. NBD.
All that is to say, you’ve got a great looking build, and as long as your not using a clearance plane of 10mm and cutting 10mm into the spoil board, don’t worry about the flat so much.
Well I got impatient… crown test engraved.
[attachment file=71458]
Looks good to me. I got to test some more.
Update.
I modified my table to take into consideration some weird squaring issue. I did operate on it. The table was too fat so I cut things.
[attachment file=73280]
I use an eye bolt for my end stop. I had them laying around.
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My next thing to do is add a few pieces of MDF with t-tracks in between them like this. Any suggestion on this?
[attachment file=“worktable idea.jpg”]
Here is how it looks now. Everything is now squared. Im pretty happy with it. Ill so some cutting later today. I test with a 4’ x 8’ rectangle 3mm deep to see the precision of the table. It does 1mm down per pass so that makes 3 pass. I had some issues being not square but I think its taken care of now.
Cool thanks for the belt/endstop idea. Looks good in my opinion.
On my mpcnc I used 5/8 t track so I could use 3/4 MDF and have an 1/8" buffer. I cut my slabs 5" wide and was going to screw them down but haven’t had a need to. I have over 300 hours on the machine and have only had to flip two slabs.
You don’t fasten the MDF down? I guess your mpcnc is fasten to the MDF or? How are you t tracks holding?
My mpcnc is built on a half sheet of melamine and the t-tracks are screwed down to that then the slabs are actually melamine too because I had a bunch left over. The slabs are really just a spacer. I did countersink a few more screws into the t-track. I don’t like the idea of screwing into the spoil board because screw holes tend to pucker.
I just surface off the puckers… 
That’s awesome… So your t-tracks are actually dictating your leveling. I wouldn’t have think about that. Is your floor leveled? I just found out that my floor was not leveled and assumed it was … since my squaring issue.
Watch your mouth…ohhhhhhh, never mind.
