[tangeray]

Hi Guys,

Getting ready to pull the trigger on my CNC Router Parts 4848, starting to gather the components before I buy the kit. Building and designing the base for the machine right now and wanted some feedback on the design. Im building the machine base out of all wood. Here are the sketchup designs so far.

Love to get some feedback on the structure or any modifications I should make to add more stability, also are the braces overkill or not enough. Thanks guys.

Materials Being Used:
- 4X4 Wood for legs
- 2X4 Wood for structure
- 3/4 MDF for table top surfaces
- 4X Leveling Casters for feet

All joints glued and screwed. Thinking about bolts for upper table surface to 4X4?

P.S. love this forum

Thanks,

Chuck

[tangeray]

Here is the space im working with , had to do some reorganizing to make room for the new project
Attachment 183682

The Workbench area where the magic happens
Attachment 183684

Other toys......

Attachment 183686

Here are the supplies after a run to Lowe's .. Total cost so far for the wood and hardware minus the casters is $141.40ish with a mil 10% discount.....love lowes
Attachment 183688

60" X 53" Frame mocked up , squared off, and glued and screwed together
Attachment 183690

36" 4X4 Legs positioned flush with the top of the Particle board. Used some levels to make sure the top of the 4X4 sits flush with the rails of the 2X4's so the top will sit flush
Attachment 183692

Up she goes, standing on her own 4 feet. Final measurements are within 1/32" for the frame, minor tweaking can be done when I add the supports
Attachment 183694

Next thing is to order the casters. They are self leveling and adjustable. They have a rolling wheel and a rubber insert that lowers to the ground to help adjust level. My garage floor is far from level BTW.

Question....is there a good way to route the table top flat if there happens to be minor warping in the wood when I attach the top to the base? Does anyone have any good tricks for leveling a tabletop with a hand router??

Thanks,

Chuck

[jckstrthmghty]

Question....is there a good way to route the table top flat if there happens to be minor warping in the wood when I attach the top to the base? Does anyone have any good tricks for leveling a tabletop with a hand router??Chuck

Wouldn't bother. Level the crp4848 on the table instead.

[vbgraves]

Not sure if you meant to undersize your frame or not, but it's my understanding that the footprint of a CRP4848 is 57x60, not 54x60 as your plans show. I'm also planning for a CRP4848 but haven't built my table yet.

[tangeray]

Just looked over the plans again......it is 57. Dont know how I got 54 in my head and on my sheet. Here are my options:

1.) rebuild to 57
2.) see if CNCRouterParts can cut my cross members to 51". Im leaning more to this route cause I wont miss those 3 inches.

[SixOfOne]

I think you could just add another 2x4 to each side and then do the top over (if you already cut your 3/4 mdf) or scab it in..

[tangeray]

Question:

How does the extrusion base attach to the table top? What methods are used? Cause im wondering if I ran my 2X4's the wrong way if its a nut and bolt on type thing. Can someone take a picture or describe how the base attaches to the tabletop.

Thanks,

Chuck

[Dylwad]

Question:

How does the extrusion base attach to the table top? What methods are used? Cause im wondering if I ran my 2X4's the wrong way if its a nut and bolt on type thing. Can someone take a picture or describe how the base attaches to the tabletop.

Thanks,

Chuck

Cheapest way would be to use 4 1/2" long 5/16" carriage bolts in the t slots and drill holes through the 2x4's, use a washer and nut to clamp each together. I don't think you would need more than 4 or 6 bolts, and I would shim between the base and table top to keep from distorting either of them when tightening as the wood base will most likely not be perfectly flat.

This is assuming your 2x4's are centered under the extrusions.

Sent from tapatalk

[tangeray]

K I went ahead and added (2) 2X4's to the sides. Gets me a total length of 56.75 minus the table overhang. Im going to route the edges probably rounded but I want to wait till I have the kit and set the base on top to make sure that the CNC base doesnt round off the edge of the table. im leaving .25 inches of overhang on both sides for now until I test fit the base.
Attachment 183820
Attachment 183822
Attachment 183824
I ordered the casters from Ebay. Got 4 of them for $78 shipped. The name brand ones would have been closer to $150-200. Knock off are fine with me.


Thanks,

Chuck

P.S. Going to be mounting a monitor to the table setup with the computers and control boxes underneath on the shelf below the main tabletop. This is what Im thinking of.

[tangeray]

Tabletop Complete. Final dimensions are 60 X 56.75
Attachment 183888 Attachment 183890

[tangeray]

Supports added to tabletop.





P.S. This thing is starting to weigh a ton

Thanks,

Chuck

[vtx1029]

I would rotate the cross supports 90*

Make sure and cross brace the frame in all directions.

Good luck on your build. My crp 48x48 works great!

Here is an idea on how to flatten your base
How to Flatten a Workbench and Wide Boards with a Router | The Wood Whisperer

[tangeray]

Build Update:
Got the lower shelf built and covered with particle board. Did a support on the underside of the shelf where I scabbed in the particle board top peices together. I dont think i'll add more supports to the bottom of the lower table because the weight it will support is going to be mild at best with only electronics and possibly a shop vac as part of the dust collection system. Adding diagonal bracing to 2 of the 4 sides today. Going to be building dividers on the other 2 sides to make nice neat slots of the PC and electronics box. Thinking about cooling, I wanted to build a sort of channel on the lower shelf, put my electronics and PC inside the channel, then funnel high volume air through the channel alongside the individual components fans and heatsinks. Still designing .. Will update on the progress.

Thanks for all the tips and comments guys. Keeping this going....

THanks,

ChuckAttachment 184224 Attachment 184226

[kinghong1970]

looks like you're getting a lot done quick...

i second VTX's recommendation on rotating the cross supports 90*...
actually, i'm surprised nobody suggested putting a torsion box for a top.

anywhoo... sorry my comments are late.

btw, if you're mounting the router on the table top, did you make sure that the rack and pinion motor mount clears off the edge of the table?
in my 2448, the motor mount/gear pulley plate is about 1.5" below the 1545 side extrusion (one that supports the y rails)

[tangeray]

looks like you're getting a lot done quick...

i second VTX's recommendation on rotating the cross supports 90*...
actually, i'm surprised nobody suggested putting a torsion box for a top.

I would rotate the cross supports 90*

Yea guys, I feel like an idiot now after realizing that. I went with that orientation for the one support underneath the 2 scabbed in peices of particle board so I could attach them to it and followed suit for the other ones not realizing they should be 90 degrees off. My thoughts at this point is that the aluminum extrusion rails for the X will sit on the ends of the table and directly on top of the 2 sandwiched 2X4's. Im gonna lay those up and see if There is noticeable sagging between the aluminum cross members and the table top and adjust accordingly from there. Thanks again guys for pointing that out.

Cheers!,

Chuck

P.S. Whats a torsion boX?

[kinghong1970]

Torsion box is pretty much 2 sheets of wood/mdf sandwiching over a mid layer that is made of mdf or plywood grid.
the grid is glued to the top and bottom layers and the benefits of it is that it is rigid and stays flat...

here's a google link
https://www.google.com/search?q=tors...hrome&ie=UTF-8

and here's a vid of woodwhisperer's torsion box.
Torsion Box Assembly Table | The Wood Whisperer

[kinghong1970]

Question:

How does the extrusion base attach to the table top? What methods are used? Cause im wondering if I ran my 2X4's the wrong way if its a nut and bolt on type thing. Can someone take a picture or describe how the base attaches to the tabletop.

Thanks,

Chuck

Chuck,

the good thing is that you're using alum extrusions... so you can slide the L brackets to avoid the cross braces.
i would take some L brackets and fix it to your table, that way if you need to take it off, just lift the top, expose the bracket and unscrew/bolt.

maybe you can also have some t-nuts installed on the underside of your top so you can thread it in from top easily...

[vtx1029]

You can also look at the end of my build log to see how I made my vac table. Its a torsion box design as well.

[tangeray]

Hey guys,

Thanks for the info on fixing the machine base to the tabletop, im going to wait till I get the kit to see what the best way to do it will be. Looked into torsion boxes and I want one!! Sold me table saw a few years back and now wishing I hadnt. I'll add that to the project list though for sure.

Got the table all up and running. Put some stain and polyurethane for a quick finish. Side bracings are in, on the front open sections im tossing around ideas for doing vertical supports to mount my electronics underneath and also a permanent shop vac for a self contained dust collection system. The rollers are ebay specials. They are adjustable rubber feet casters made in china. Overall, I think their build quality is ****. They are metal, but how they attach the adjustable feet to the base is ridiculous with a screw through plastic. Might have to upgrade these fairly soon. So a word to the wise, if you are looking at these type of casters, maybe spring the extra cash and buy the name brand ones ALL METAL.
Attachment 184726 Attachment 184728 Attachment 184730 Attachment 184732

And happy birthday to me!! bought some digital measuring tools from amazon. This is the first to come in. Solid construction and very sensitive, metal casing. waiting on the digital calipers and some E-stop switches I got. Going to be doing 2 total E-Stops on the build. Got my computer, looking for a monitor, going to purchase mach 3 license soon. BTW, can someone post their mach3 screenset for wood routing? Stock screens suck!!

Attachment 184734

Thanks,

Chuck

P.S. Dont worry, this will turn into a machine build thread shortly. Selling my powered paraglider to fund the machine build and im closing to sealing the deal. Also got my 300zx up on the market.

[tangeray]

Hey guys quick update:

Components have been ordered and recieved and building has started!!! Im super excited as everything came in without a hitch. A few minor hicups in the order but the guys at CNC Router Parts had them fixed within minutes of me talking with them. Im super impressed with their company and their level of customer support and dedication aswell as their product. Attached are some pics of the equipment recieved.
Extrusion came in a day before the parts from CNC Router Parts. Super well packaged and no damage to shipping containers
Attachment 187608

Extrusion package.
Attachment 187610

The motherload has landed!
Attachment 187612
Attachment 187614
Attachment 187616
Attachment 187618

More pics and video build logs to follow once I start construction of this beast

Thanks,
Chuck