Purchased my XCarve today and super excited. Now I need to get a workbench made.
In reading a ton here, I want it to be very sturdy and the surface flat. I don’t plan on doing a Torsion Box as that would just take more effort, time and skill than I have right now.
The surface material I am still researching as the unit will be in the basement and I think the MDF material is a no go.
Here is a design that I put together today. Uses 4x4 and 2x2s. Thoughts?
Yes. I did it with Sketchup.
But you don’t have any eyes.
How the hell are you going to operate your new Xcarve???
Nice shirt though…
Your base looks fine maybe change those 2x2’s to 2x4"s I would reconsider a torsion box, it’s really easy and you WILL want the extra stability and flatness. Search wood whisperer on utube he has a good video. Mdf should be fine in the basement unless you have a water problem.
Random water issues. Old house…
Thanks
Sander accident in my youth.
Bought the Brail version… ha
You can build welded or screw joint profile cage and cover it with mdf panel. That what I call torsion cabinet.
I think you should add some angle bracing to keep it from racking side-to-side.
4x4s are the way to go. I am in the process of designing a base now too and mine looks similar to yours, but I will be using a torsion box. They aren’t that hard to make and are extremely important to use. Also if you’re putting this in your basement then you should be applying at least two coats of MinWax 41700000 High Performance wood hardener to all wood surfaces, including the MDF. It will protect against any kind of water or moisture damage down the road. I would use hardwood and not MDF on the top surface. Are you going to put any drawers in your base? There’s a lot of wasted space inside that base. Good luck with everything and have fun with your X-Carve.
Nice.
I think my design is over engineered. I can get most of the wood pre-cut. I am new to all of this…
Yes
OK, so I’m probably going to scorned on my design, but the table I made was dead simple and after 2 years of use it is still shows no sign of racking. If it ever does rack I plan to throw a couple cables and turnbuckles between opposite legs and pull it in.
I added a pull out table for my laptop and made Aluminum plates that went around the base to attache the X-Carve to the table. The AL plates on the Y-axis side actually reach all the way up to the Y-axis from the base to add rigidity to the Y-axis. I used counter sunk wood screws to hold the spoil board to the table. The screws go into the 2x4s that are raised 1/2" in the 3D drawing (#7 and #8). I cut two spoil boards from a 4’ x 8’ sheet of 3/4" MDF that I got from Lowes so I have a spare. I drill 1/8 holes in the spoil board and use sheet rock screws to either hold my material directly, or to hold down low profile AL clamps I made. I realize this is probably bad practice too, but it works for me. If you pre-drill a quick sanding with a block knocks down any rise from the screw.
The extensions in the back of the table hold a PVC pipe to allow my vacuum hose to slide as the carriage moves. Below is the link to the instructable I did for the dust shoe I designed for it. I eventually added some taller guides to keep the hose from sliding off the sides.
All these photos are from the initial build, I don’t have any recent ones that show how cut up the table is now. It has seen a lot of use so I’m getting ready to resurface now.
The one I built is not only straight and heavy duty, I’d wager you could park a small car on it if I added a sheet of 18 gauge steel to the top layer. I also used 2 x 4 construction, but what I did was to use construction floor joist hangers. I have them at each corner for the Top and Halfway Down for the Shelf. There is also 3/4" Plywood for the Top and the Shelf with Cross pieces for the Top and Shelf. It’s heavy enough I built a second and mounted my 10" x 18" Wood Lathe and 8" Bench Grinder.
Is that for a 1000mm X-Carve?
Steve,
Yes, the table is for the 1000mm X-Carve. I should note that it is not set up for the inventables waste board. A friend bought the inventables waste board, and it requires the side base rails to be pulled in to attached to the waste board. I have the rails pushed out to make a square base and cut the waste board to fit. I think the raised 2x4s (#8 in diagram) would interfere with the inset base rails required for the inventables waste board. So you will either need to modify the table size to fit with the inventables waste board, or cut your own waste board.
Given how expensive the waste board is after shipping it really pays to make your own. Another upside of making your own waste board is that it is really easy to attach. Looking at the waste board instructions it seems that you would need to dissassemble your X-Carve to replace the waste board. Luckily you don’t need to do that too often. Also given how hard it is to get the table top and axis perfectly aligned you may want to use the X-Carve to plane the table flat. If you do that with the instructables waste board you are going to remove all the pretty writing on the board.
Thanks Bill
I had the Black Friday Free Shipping so I ordered the waste board.
I didn’t order the side board.
I am trying to determine the minimum size for the 1000mm unit.
The controller will sit on a shelf under the waste board.
That’s pretty damn sexy
