X-Carve Workspace Showcase

I finally made an appropiate workstation for my ShapeOko 2 out of scrap wood!

What dou you think guys?

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Great work table, great video! Plus, I wouldnā€™t mind one bit if my wife gave me a Kreg for Christmas! It sure seemed to make your job a lot easier!

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Thatā€™s a very solid, attractive looking table. If only I had a pocket joinerā€¦ :wink:

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Nick that is without a doubt one of the nicest Torsion Boxes that Iā€™ve seen to date. I am in the process of designing my Torsion Box now. Iā€™m thinking about integrating some of the wiring inside my box for a overall cleaner look outside. Iā€™ll know more once my X-Carve arrives.

What type of expanding foam did you use? What is the height of your box? Do you have any pictures of the X-Carve on top of the finished box? Iā€™d like to see how much room the X-Carve has around the edges. THANKS, and again, congrats on building a excellent Torsion Box.

Thanks you for your words! Pocket holes is a really fast and easy solutions! Greetings from Colombia!

Pocket holes are great. I would highly recommend a kreg jig. Even the cheaper one will do the job. I use mine all the time. Extreamly strong joint. Very fast and easy and hidden. What more could you ask for in a wood joint. Can even do fancy joinery for decoration and sure it up with pocket holes if that particular joint needs to withstand some real force.

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Donā€™t agree that pocket hole joints are that strong.
Matthias agrees :grinning:
https://woodgears.ca/joint_strength/pockethole.html

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I figured that I would post some photos of my ā€œworkspaceā€ since I got things wired the way I wanted to (on the 110v side). There is now one plug for the whole unit that feeds an on/off switch (light switch from a house) then goes through an e-stop switch on a cord so it can be mounted or set anywhere. I have the power supply/arduino powered by the main switch then a 3 way switch wired backwards to control the spindle (DW611). One side of the switch is powered by 110v and the other side is powered by a relay controlled by the arduino for automatic spindle control. I did this so I could manually turn it on if needed to touch something up or set a home position hole. There is also a switched 110v outlet controlled on the same circuit which now turns on my vac with the spindle with my handy SuckIt (great product btw). I did put hour meters for the arduino and one for the spindle to track time and brush life. There are also two outlets controlled by the master switch for an ip cam that I use to monitor the carve and I plug a laptop into the other.

I cut the DW611 cord just after it comes out of the router (easier than wiring a new one in I thought) and put an IEC C14 connector (110v computer looking connector) on it so I could easily disconnect the router or replace if needed. This is fed by a wire with a moulded female connector that runs through the drag chain that is wired directly into the 3 way switch.

I can draw up the wiring diagram if anyone is interested. My actual workspace isnā€™t fancy but it gets the job done and I donā€™t have to worry about dust or noise. It also folds up when Iā€™m not using it. I just tether the y-axis to keep it from sliding when tilting it.

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I donā€™t think itā€™s the pocket hole per sa, I think the real variable is the type of screw and the type (hardness/softness) of wood used. I always use glue with my pocket holes, which his tests didnā€™t cover.

Here is my latest and greatest. Steel construction.

Rubber seal ready to be bed for 2 ply 0.75 MDF

Finished, Top MDF laminated, pressed to construction.

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That looks great Alan!

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Thanks Erik.

HOLY MOSES! Almost looks store bought.

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Great job Alan! Well thought out. Probably the nicest table Iā€™ve seen.

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Thanks Jeff, after yours.

Nahā€¦you got me on this one! :thumbsup:

Any thoughts on the ridgidity and level-ness of Advantec? Iā€™m tired of my workbench being out of level but I donā€™t have time for any kind of serious build so Iā€™m thinking about buying a piece of 4ā€™x8ā€™ Advantec, cutting it in half, gluing the two pieces together, and calling that me top.

Quick and dirty, but I would think it would be stout and level and stand up to humidity.

How do you find the noise level to be when working? Iā€™m tempted to buy an x-carve but live in a flat so I was thinking of some sort of enclosure with rubber base and sound proofing tiles built into the case but unsure how much of a difference this will all make.

The rubber mat helped a lot, but did not reduce the sound to a level that would be considered acceptable to neighbors in an adjoining apartment. I am sure it is possible to build a sound enclosure that will meet your needs, but it will require a good bit of sound absorbing material. Then you will still need to deal with the noise from the dust collection system, not to mention the other power tools you will need to complete projects.

I donā€™t want to sound negative, but an apartment is really not the best location for a wood shop.

A properly constructed sound proofing enclosure will work, BUT it takes more than just general effort to sound proof properly. If youā€™re going to build an enclosure I recommend using Roxul sound proofing insulation.

http://www.roxul.com/residential/create+a+quiet+home

Later this year I will be building such an enclosure, but I canā€™t imagine doing a project like this in a apartment. What size X-Carve are you planning on buying?