Hi, I am still awaiting a few parts before the build of my 1000x1000 X-Carve is complete but am already thinking of how and where to store it when it’s not in use. I have a small workshop and the machine footprint would dominate the space so I am building a lift to move it up out of the way.
I’ve seen a number of cable driven solutions and the one I’m building will use some of those principles, in so far as I will have an electric winch, but am employing a cantilever platform lift design. The rollers at the back (yellow in this short animation) are actually skateboard wheels, which I chose because they have good density, are relatively stiff but very durable (plus they are very cheap compared to commercial polypropylene or nylon wheels/rollers). I’ll be adding an enclosure but wanted to share this animation and ask for any thoughts. If this has been tried and failed I’d appreciate knowing if there is anything to avoid or must do. Thanks, Jon
X-carve Lift.mp4 (551.4 KB)
There has been a couple of designs on this subject by a few users of this forum. Your design is a bit different from those in that you appear to be planning a wall mounted vertical rail. I like it.
The use of rollerskate wheeels is one that speaks to my frugal nature, ie; CHEAPSKATES UNITE! 
For your lift mechanism, I would recommend the use of a counter weight to put less stress on the lift equipment and if you go with somthing that can be weight adjustable,
For a rough example, picture a coffee can on a rope that you can add or remove sand to/from.
This is the priciple that garage doors operate on, Ever seen a door snap it’s spring and come crashing down? Whee! Thats fun!
With the right balancing, you maynot even need the electric motor.
Thanks JK, the counterweight idea sounds good, and would save buying the electric winch. Once the machine is built and I can weigh the lift table components I think a slim box of some kind might suffice, filled with the right amount of material (probably sand because I live on a relatively small island with plenty of the stuff lying around). I’ll need to consider an equally simple way to ensure the counterweight runs smoothly but I have some spare linear bearings and 8mm stainless steel rod which may actually (finally) be used for something practical. Thanks for the suggestion!
I am planning to house the computer and other electrical components in a box under the table itself, with the X-Carve enclosure lit internally with white LEDs, in the same way I’ve seen others do it. The cables will be routed to the ‘under-table’ electronics through a brush cable outlet to prevent dust from getting through, and to keep things nice and tidy. Hopefully dust won’t be too much of a problem because I’ve ordered a dust-shoe from Kent CNC.
Thanks again for the suggestion, I think it will work out very well, and I’ll update the forum post with the outcome.
Cheers, Jon
