[philks]

Hi All,

Getting to grips with our new machine, but unfortunately it didn't come with the calibration gauge. We've done a bit of playing around and have tried to come up with our own (around 2.3mm was our guess at thickness) but it's inconsistent and has resulted in us needing to re-mill the bed a few times.

Does anybody have the exact thickness of this piece so we can either make or buy a replacement?

Thanks,

Phil

[Todd Zuercher]

We've always just used a piece of ordinary 1/8" plexiglass (it comes in a little thinner than 0.125"). This seems to work quite well for us and is easily replaced if and when they get messed up. It actually measures about 0.1125" or 2.86mm thick. When milling on the table we usually raise the depth about 0.010" to be sure it doesn't cut into it.

A couple of tips. For most milling out, when ever possible, we will use a 1/4" MDF fall board rather than cutting directly on the table. The MDF is porous and the vacuum goes right through it to hold down larger pieces. It doesn't always work for very small shapes though. This really saves the table surface. Gouges from any mishaps can be easily and quickly filled with a little Bondo or other plastic body filler, saving you from needing to replace the surface pads quite so often. (We've replaced the surfaces on our Gerber 408 twice in the 17 years I've worked here, and only once on our 404. (The 404 doesn't get used for much milling though, mostly v-carving).