My Onefinity arrived last week and as I have a very small workshop I designed and built a wall-mounted fold away system which lifts the table as it folds, it is very sturdy and takes my body weight and the machine no issues.
I thought I would share the build video here in case anyone else had limited space - secondly, the video has alternative designs for this system so you dont have to follow this format, it is the mechanics of the design that allow you to fold the table away so if you do want this, just copy the mechanics.
Eventually, when I get time I will upload schematics, right now I am learning to use the machine.
Great build, Lee! I will probably not fight with lack of space, but will definitely keep this great idea in mind. Enjoy your machine, I must wait till July…
Lee,
This post is awesome thank you for such a wonderful contribution to this forum. The design is wonderful. Sharing your thought process was great. I am eager to see the unit complete with the CNC mounted.
Thank you
Dave
If I was going to build a tilting table I would have it go the opposite way. When tilted up the 1F would be between the wall and the tabletop. That way it’s protected from something bumping into it. Also, unless you built a torsion box table, you could store small stuff on the underside of the table like clamps. It could pivot on an axle (piece of pipe) about 18" from the end of the wall side of the table with feet that fold down onto the floor.
I don’t have to worry about bumping into it, I don’t bump into anything else in my workshop. Its the ideal set up for me and is yet to be improved on with storage, the tables with legs are no where near as solid as a right angled armature, folding it into the wall over complicates the mechanics of the design and you cant use the machine when it’s facing a wall, this set up allows the machine to be run whilst upright,
I see what you mean and that alternative might work for you, but I’m definitely happy with it as is.
Lee
based on your drawings done for your table,you already have a fantastic handle on computer graphics. i love the set up and running it in the vertical will be very interesting. the led light panels are great. very nice . keep us posted.
dave
I do CAD design for engineering, I was also a practical engineer for a long time as well as a carpenter, while I know the software, and have used machines the CNC router specific side of things is fairly new but I plan on creating tutorials as I learn it all, bitesize stuff,
What I will say regarding the table is that the mechanics are about two stages more complex than it needs to be, it is possible to make it far simpler, I made it that way just to save materials and use what I had.
Lee, your video inspired me to build a similar folding table. I did not have Unistrut laying around so I went with a four bar linkage design. I had spare 2x4s, add some aluminum rod for pivots, and here you go…
Thanks! I loved your design and wanted to copy it. Cost of the unistrut and bearings was about $150. Instead, I paid ~$10 for some 3/8” aluminum rod. I had two sheets of construction grade 1/2” ply and a few 2x4s already.
Yes, I did look at making it flush. And this was the compromise on two design concerns as well as a buildability factor.
The first design consideration is that using 2x4s, the closest it would get to the wall is 3” without creating an inset in the torsion box for the bars and the wall mount.
The second design element is the two bars reinforce the table position. When flat, the top bar supports the table. When folded the bottom bar is against the table. This enables solid locking in the upright and down positions. It also limits travel so the linkages do not hyper extend and get locked in an over rotated position.
The build consideration to get flush to the wall (minus 2 * 2x4 thickness) is the ground plane would not be able to be the wall. I forget the angle off the top of my head, but the bottom pivot needs yo be away from the wall by a few degrees…Essentially the inverse of the angle the table makes to the wall when upright. Instead of building a wedge on the wall to get the angle required, I decided to use the wall and let the upright position go a little past 90degrees.
Turns out to be a benefit. the bottom is closer to the wall, and the top sticks out more. In my tiny shop, having the bottom in a few inches closer works great for Tetris game that I have to play with table saw, lumber cart, and flip cart planer/oscillating sander.
Net effect is the table bottom is a hair under 5” from the wall (2” over best cast of flush to wall mount) and top is about 12” a bit above my head. Without verifying the geometry, I got lucky by being lazy and not building a wall wedge I designed because I would have had 7-8” gap the entire length if I had.
