[tkubic]

Over the years browsing these forums I find there are many different machines of many forms, fits, and functions. Some of the things that make the best machines though are the extra's.

What I would propose of this thread is to see and talk about many of those extra's people have designed into their machine that make using the machine so much easier.

This could be your favorite dust shoe design, table clamps, xbox controller for commands, table t-slots, router enclosures, quick change collets.

I will try to post a couple of my favorite things later. I am currently redesigning my machine and would like to include some of these favorite known working solutions. As many others also redesign constantly, I am sure this will benefit everybody.
:cheers:

[fizzissist]

A pallet with rubber mat.
So I can look at and operate the control without having to stand with my head cranked back like I'm looking at the ceiling.

Whose frikn' great idea is it that controls have to be mounted at 6' high??????

[handlewanker]

Hi, I take it you mean for DIY mill design.......

A poor mans VFD.....the vari pulley drive with stepper motor control and digi readout of RPM.

A dual Z axis drive to get the heavy head casting up to the top for big jobs and down for small jobs while having a quill drive as the main Z axis movement for sensitivity.

A main body casting and carriages etc cast in alluminium bronze....I hate cast iron dust.
Ian.

[JerryBurks]

- Sliding dust protection covers that don't reduce travel and keep the rails and ballscrews clean

- Air cooling the liquid cooled spindle with the dust extractor that also eliminates the need for a separate dust shoe. Instead, adjustable height dust skirt with lighting that does not move up and down with the spindle.

- control software on a netbook that is mounted to an articulated monitor arm: flexible control screen, PC power not interruptable, minimal wiring and no ground loops (isolated wall wart supply).

[IBBruin]

One of my favorite is the detachable touchplate. When I get done I just unplug it and hang it on the wall. There's no wire getting tangled up in your clamps, fixtures or work piece.

[Walky]

How come nobody has mentioned the almighty SuperPID? :cheers:

[the_canuck]

My favorite tool for building my machine is the Magdrill. So much easier than moving heavy steal beams just to drill a hole or two or 100. Move the drill instead and have it stay in place! I found a 'Chinese' one on ebay for $350 bucks. I've drilled hundreds of holes with it.

Andrew

[tkubic]

Here is something I got in today that seems to have potential.

Shop fox D3347 cam clamps. $10.35 on amazon. [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Shop-Fox-D3347-Cam-Clamp/dp/B00012XE0A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1362177930&sr=8-1&keywords=shop+fox+cam+clamp"]HERE[/ame]



Seem to have a pretty good holding force. Used in standard t-tracks. Tested them out real quick like today. with two holding a piece on opposite sides of eachother there is good holding force. I am thinking about making a zero'ing corner on my machine and clamping against that corner for quick setups.

These things are great, take 2 seconds to clamp a piece down. 15 seconds to clamp a different size piece down.

[Lee DeRaud]

My favorite is the drill-press laser guide I adapted (last post in this thread: http://www.cnczone.com/forums/diy-cn...f_machine.html), very handy for quick setups.

The monitor arm to hold the netbook is definitely in my future...also need a place to hang the Playstation controller.

[JerryBurks]

.....The monitor arm to hold the netbook is definitely in my future...

I used[ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000ID7QNI"] this one.[/ame] Only $15 and very solid. Sorry about the big image, don't know how to link it smaller.

[Lee DeRaud]

I used this one. Only $15 and very solid.

Looks good, but what do you bolt it to? I was envisioning something more like this, which I could attach to the side/end of the table, but it's like 10X the price.

EDIT: found this one, which is more reasonably priced. It's grossly inadequate for any monitor I've ever owned, but the netbook only weighs 2lb or so.

[JerryBurks]

....Looks good, but what do you bolt it to? ....

Any available vertical surface, beam or bracket. I happen to have a vertical outboard plate but if your machine does not have anything like that you need indeed to find something else.
I have the netbook roughly at table height and can tilt it horizontally and vertically to suit the best view (I frequently work with the door open in sunlight). When I don't need the machine I close the display and fold it vertically flat against the machine so it is out of the way and does not collect dust on the keyboard. There is a thin plywood plate with a ledge attached to the monitor arm and the netbook is strapped with a 2 thin ribbons across the lower corners and fishing line across the top to that plywood so it can still be operated and closed. They are not really designed to be permanently mounted and it took some experiments. I am still going to make some kind of a fabric hood for better protection and because the netbook gets extremely hot if it is sitting in the sun for a while.

[Lee DeRaud]

...I have the netbook roughly at table height...

Ah, got it. I've got a flat front plate at 36"-41", but mounting there puts it a bit too high if I'm sitting and a bit too low if I'm standing, which got me looking at arms with vertical motion.

[DonFrambach]

Here is something I got in today that seems to have potential.

Shop fox D3347 cam clamps. $10.35 on amazon. HERE



Seem to have a pretty good holding force. Used in standard t-tracks. Tested them out real quick like today. with two holding a piece on opposite sides of eachother there is good holding force. I am thinking about making a zero'ing corner on my machine and clamping against that corner for quick setups.

These things are great, take 2 seconds to clamp a piece down. 15 seconds to clamp a different size piece down.

I bought 4 of these a while ago. Fit and finish was terrible. I was able to get them to work though. Here's a link: http://www.cnczone.com/forums/diy-cn..._t-tracks.html

[tkubic]

I bought 2 of the shop fox clamps to see how they would work. Screws were too short to do anything with so I had to replace them. Other then that they seemed fine, only had two though. Will have to put them to use with actual cutting at some point.

[revwarguy]

Looks good, but what do you bolt it to?

I made the one below, here are some more pictures of making it.

[kingston250]

It's looks so good. You really made a good one.