[Claytonc]

Ok.. so I've made these twice now.. First time they where cut from 1/2" Lexan. Second time was from 1" plexiglass. Both time they have broken very easily after installation. The 1" plexi ones (pictured) I installed this morning. When I came home one had completely shattered and the other looks like a spider holes...

WHAT material should I be working with??? I can not do aluminum on my little cnc...

[dneisler]

Maybe MDF or some birch ply...

[the4thseal]

aluminum.....plastics have problems. as the router heats up the plastic get weaker. if you must use wood do the Baltic birch .

[Claytonc]

I think it might be a design issue actually... Unless the material its made of is pretty strong and able to flex with out breaking, I think it will fail. When tightened the stress is placed in the weakest point which is where it mounts to the Z carage. And this is with no stress on the spindle itself. So... I guess I will try the baltic burch... Before these two I had made a set out of 3/4" plywood. They where missing some of the layers in the mounting screw areas so I didn't even try mounting them. I hope Lowes has some birch in stock.. I'll give it a shot tomorrow if so.
Thanks for the help.

[ger21]

Lowes most likely won't have baltic birch. And even if they do, you're design is seriously flawed. Where the fasteners go through, it should be much thicker. You appear to have it much thinner there.

What kind of router will this be holding?

[Claytonc]

Lowes most likely won't have baltic birch. And even if they do, you're design is seriously flawed. Where the fasteners go through, it should be much thicker. You appear to have it much thinner there.

What kind of router will this be holding?

The router is a full sized wood router.It's a craftsman 2 1/2hp.

I modeled the back part of the design directly after the design that came with my Solsylva plans. But with the original design there are straps that push the router into these mounts. My design extends all the way around the router. The front clamps are pulling the arms of the back clamp forward which is breaking the back clamp at the mounting points...

I know this is a 'beginners' machine and I'm OK with that. I just want to make it as nice as I can. Until I can figure this out I will be going back to the 2 metal straps that was in the original design...

[ger21]

Here's my Baltic Birch clamp design.
There are two integral to the carriage. It weighs about 4-5 lbs, but it's very solid.

[Claytonc]

Here's my Baltic Birch clamp design.
There are two integral to the carriage. It weighs about 4-5 lbs, but it's very solid.

Ok. Based on your design I've redesigned my mounts. I'm still not sure that it wont break at the mounting points and with this design I'm really not sure how I'm going to even drill the recess holes for the mounting screws. hmm.. anyway, here is what I think might work for me. I'm going t order some 3/4" x 1' x 1' baltic burch today from amazon. Man.. I hope this works...
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[ger21]

I'd make it a lot thicker where the clamping bolts are. I have 1" of material there.
One thing you can do is attach a mounting block to the back. You can screw the block into the clamp, and into the Z axis.

[Claytonc]

I'd make it a lot thicker where the clamping bolts are. I have 1" of material there.
One thing you can do is attach a mounting block to the back. You can screw the block into the clamp, and into the Z axis.

Its hard to tell from the picture but I did thicken it up quite a bit. At its thinnest point it is .85" thick.
I have my dust shoe that I have to consider as well. I spent a lot of time designing and cutting it so I kinda have to make it work with it.

Attaching a mounting block to the Z axis and them mounting the clamp to the mounting block might work but then again, I have to work with my dust shoe... DARN these clamps!

I wish I could do aluminum. I think my original design might have worked in aluminum had I made the mounting area a bit thicker... But alas... I can not do aluminum on my little zen...

[yak51]

My simple solution to turn down the router base.