Phil's New Waste Board

Apologies…

I thought that was just the base. Oh well… I guess that I’ll be contributing more to the shipping & handling association of america. LOL

Before I order these, I just realized that I still need to add my Z-Axis mod (the one you added).

1.) Are you using the same L Brackets with your elevated gantry?

I’m so sorry, I’m not trying to pester. It can be a touch difficult to to follow along the instructions with the added thread comments (not knocking it at all. I’m just stating). It’s just that being new to much of this, I am usually attempting to wrap my head around concepts, to execute with clear understanding. It would really suck to have to scrap a 1M piece of 1/4" aluminum because I didn’t know for sure about the whats, wheres, and, hows.

Hello all of you!
I have been busy getting ready to order my X Carve 1000 mm.
So far, I have:
Reclaim a room of the house to be my X Carve room.
Repainted
Added 3 new electric circuits: one for the X Carve and computer, one for the duster and one for my electric tools(saw, disk sander, planar etc…)
Installed my duster with a connection for the X Carve falling from the ceiling
Built a torsion box out of 5/8 MDF 4’ X 4’ X 4" with insulating foam between the inside squares 8" by 8"
Bought my suck-it dust boot, Makita RT 0701C router and my triquetra
Few!!!
I am in Canada and since the cost of the waste board including shipping would be well over $300 us, I also decided to build Phil’s waste board and also not order the side board.
The aluminum plate only cost me $100 canadian, so around $70 us. it is 48’ by 48’. The t-tracks $71 can. And so on… So I guess, with the money I saved, I may buy me a laser. who knows?
Seriously, beside the extra extrusions and related hardware that will go under the aluminum plate, using your experience and the fact that you all went through the process of builing your machine, do you see anything else I may be missing?
I could start installing the t-tracks, drill the different holes and tap them but I think I should wait for all the hardware to arrive.

what do you say?

Start watching vcarve videos on YouTube, sounds like you’re ready…

Waiting for everything to arrive is a good idea. Some things I learned from building @PhilJohnson’s WasteBoard:

  1. He is correct that you should cut the aluminum plate to size first.
  2. Cut your MDF waste board planks first. I’ll get to this in a moment.
  3. Order more M5 screws than you think you’ll need.
  4. Using something like a Bora 48 inch clamp, line up your t tracks and WasteBoard planks (this why you cut them to size first), and clamp them together. Using them to line up your holes will be much easier this way.
  5. Hand tap any threaded holes. It takes longer, but you won’t break any taps. When drilling holes to be tapped, make sure that the drill bit you use is a) made for metal, and b) smaller than the tap.
  6. If you planning on using a drill press to countersink the holes in your t track or WasteBoard planks, make sure you have a large drill press table to hold them. They can get rather clumsy.
  7. Cut the aluminum plate notches, shown in Phil’s plan, a little bit longer along the edge than he shows them. It will be worth it later on.
  8. Order more pre installation tee nuts than you think you will need. You’ll need them eventually.
  9. Keep a phone and an internet connected computer close at hand. You’ll need them to ask for help.

I hope this helps.

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Good ideas! Thanks a lot guys!!!

So Marc, 1.5 for the notches instead of 1.25…is this enough?

It should be. Just don’t run into one of the holes on the edge that you bolt the base frame extrusion to.

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Lots of fun ahead…

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Here is bother tip for you. Lay out blue painters tape over any area that you have to drill or drill and tap. That way you can lay out your entire hole pattern without marking up the aluminum plate. Then use a spring loaded center punch to mark the center of each hole.

Noted. BTW what are these notches for?

What he said. Also remember, measure three times, cut once.

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Is it possible to increase the size of the aluminium plate sideway to include the side board? I mean wasteboard and side board all in one big plate.

You could but there wouldn’t be any benefit. The sideboard just holds the Xcontroller and the flatness/rigidity of the sideboard won’t influence cut quality. In fact, the sideboard itself isn’t 100% necessary unless you want a neat presentation.

Thinking about …maybe…moving or lifting the X carve from the torsion box, if needed. But the machine would be heavyer…

When cut to size, it is already heavy. When you add the frame extrusions, base extrusions, t track and waste planks, it is even heavier. The only time I would plan on moving the X Carve now would be if I relocate to another house.

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Wich is definitely not in my plans… Thanks again!

I just ran across this that I think would make building the waste board out of Aluminum easier. Instead of drilling and tapping you just have to drill and insert a rivet nut.

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It doesn’t take that long to drill/tap by hand anyway. It’s not a fun job but once you get into a rhythm it flies by. I did snap an m4 tap on my last hole but somehow got it out

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I have to say that I took my time to do it…on and off. But here’s the result. With good drawing, help and good advice from you guys. This will be a VERY solid base for my machine wich I will be picking up in Chicago in a few weeks. Can’t wait!!!

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