Thanks for the compliments guys.
I built the arcade buttons and joystick set-up and interfaced to Mach 3 via an Arduino to provide more tactile control of the Laser. Allows control of homing, zeroing of axes, increase/decrease of power and feed rates. I suppose I could use it to play Pac-Man 
And I can fire a real Laser! 
I have mad jealousy for that fold up table.
I finished the wiring on mine over the weekend and got it moving today. The wiring took forever as everything was colour coded with coloured sleaving and heat shrink and I used the 4 pin screw in connectors which were a pain to solder. The pins are so close together on them and you can strip too much shielding on them, it was difficult to get the wires in position and held there with just two hands. I ran the wires to terminal blocks in my electronics cabinet so it would be easy to switch out controllers if needed/wanted. I still need to deal with some wire management and zap straps but I will deal with that later. I just wanted to get it running.
seriously considering building an enclosure for mine and moving it inside to my basement. to stinking hot out in the garage! noise is a big concern as is dust. not sure how well it would work out but would be nice to have it accessible year round
I have my 1m x 1m but havenāt had time to put it together. This next week will be go time!! Iām going to use the Racor garage lift. Itās 4 ft square so my X carve should fit fine. I will not use the wire shelf that comes with. Instead I will use 3/4" ply for the base and set the x carve on that. I also bought a laptop holder that will mount to the side of the ply base
. This will be positioned over my 4 ft square assembly table so when I want to carve I will just lower my cnc down onto the assembly table and then crank it back up when done. I will post pics when I get it done so the group can critique it.
That looks like a cool idea. I would worry about flexing of the board and thus your x-carve though. You might want to look at building a torsion box as the base. It would provide a much more stable platform I think.
I think itās brilliant! If I was putting mine in the garage, I would jump on that. Mine is in the basement, though, so I donāt have the ceiling height to work with. As @JohnScherer says, though, I would be looking to stiffen up the base beyond the 3/4" ply. I donāt see why you couldnāt just get a 4āx8ā sheet of 3/4" ply, cut it in half, then glue and screw the two halves together. I would think that you would end up with a pretty stable 1-1/2" thick base then.
I think you both are right. I will make sure I strengthen the base. Matt Thompson. I have a dedicated shop with 9ā ceilings so luckily, I have the room.
Here is what I did for my torsion top. A it of overkill but I had time and materialsā¦
you could go a bit thinner and use 1/2 in ply as well and still have a acceptably stable surface.
my topside is skinned with 3/4" mdf and bottom is 3/4 cdx.
sorry 'bout the sideways pic.
Thatās a heavy duty table! Hereās mine so far, my wife and I have been working on it bit by bit. I just need to put the self levelling feet on and it should be good to go! To add more rigidity without adding a ton of wood the whole table it glued including the plywood in the rabbet.
We just need to add the bottom sheet of plywood and Iāll probably add a parts bit like @TravisLucia did with his.
That looks serious work. Like the idea for top insert grove. And honestly never think using pocket drill from base to legs. I always do legs to top. Thatās clever.
Thanks! The grove for the top wasnāt too much work as I have a rabbeting router bit. What took the most time was I had screwed and glued the middle supports in and then realized that they needed to be the plywood thickness shorter, but once I got them out and ripped down, it went smooth.
Using pocket screws was great except I hit a screw or two going the other way and now my bit is totally dull, I guess Iāll have to pick up a $22 replacement bit. Probably worth it for the amount that I use it!
Looks fantastic. Only one handicap is the Plywood. That amplifies the sound and vibration, I removed mine and used 3/4" particle board then put 3/4" MDF on top of it. Eliminate chattering sound about 75%. You may want to use pad underneath machine like floor laminate guys using pads Iāve seen on Home Depot.
I was thinking of using rubber isolating feet.
Iām mounting some self-levelling feet in the table which could possibly absorb some of the vibrations.
After running my machine for a bit, I opened the table back up and filled the voids with some left over fiberglas insulation. that quieted things down alot. it now acts less like a drum. I would elevate the machine as well but am concerned about sag in the center of the wasteboard if the center isnt properly supported.
It isnt bad now so I think I will just leave well enough alone.
I was thinking of using Sorbothane feet for isolation. Just not sure which durometer rating I should use.
Soft feed on certain places will give you leveling proplems. If head assembly goes zero and usualy stock piece on that corner, than you have heavier corner to push that feed. I say you donāt need any feed. What i did was, I cut another surface from good solid 3/4" MDF, (I wish I had 1") put machine on it, loose corner screws than re-tighten again. MDF is eliminating noise half way down anyway. Also I used 4pieces of 1X1X20" long wood pieces, pocket screw them and after square the machine, knock them down to push and make machine sit on solid place. I hope this helps.
