Hi Lee
Fantastic thread. Can I ask where in Scotland you are ? Im in Wick at the very north. Im just about to order a OF but I’m a total beginer.
Cheers,
Alan.
Do you have a parts list for this build?
I dont have a formal parts list but I constructed it all out of 8020 10 series. I had 4 pivots similar to these: https://a.co/d/8Vqu3wz some T brackets and lengths of 10 series 8020. The Fusion360 document should detail all the sizes.
Hi. I’d be very interested in this build if I had cad drawings. Otherwise I’d be depending on my own half-baked ideas, and that usually ends in tears.
Duncan
Catching up to this thread now that I’ve had time to use the machine and get some experience with the actual weights and measures of it. In the mean time, I have it on a large 64"^2 Kreg table.
Has anyone else on the thread had new news or designs to report?
One of the things I’ve been considering is using U-channel that will fit over joints like these. In my case, the shop floor has concrete footers that rise up about several inches that the U-channel could be securely bolted to.
My thought is Lee’s transference of weight through the tubular structure works in his situation with a smaller machine, but the Elite QCW may not be so forgiving, especially with the weight of a Stiffy and the large spindle added in. The tubes and corners of the QCW appear to be coincident such that with the U-channel pointing toward the ground will create a good mating surface between the two. Then the Heim links linked to the floor would have a great destination at the machine. The rest of his geometry would be carried forward to this design.
Maybe then it just comes down to cable routing and some local constraints (need to fit my Y-gantry behind a garage door track and pay attention to where the power and air are available). These constraints will be different for others.
I am just going to chime in here,
I have been incredibly busy with too many projects and jobs at once and not had time to add any updates on the folding table.
The design has moved on and my Youtube channel has a recent video showing the new tubular shaft bearing table.
I can confirm this is strong enough to hold the large elite machine as this is what I now have, however, there are a few caveats and reasons why I have not publicised this.
The Elite machine can not be used at an angle, it can be stored on the wall as long as the head and spindle resting position is seated where it is supported from gravity, so the only use it would have would be as storage, the machine must be flat when in use.
The QCW table will flex at the middle slightly under load, the strutts, shafts and bearings are all strong enough to hold the table but ideally a steel addition between the rail posts would be required, possibly an I beam to take away flexion at the mid point of the QCW table, this flexion is very small but enough to be an issue.
Lifting the Elite machine back up against the wall is hard with out a counter balance weight, unless you pivot the machine at a balancing point splitting the weight but it would need some form of soft/slow movement or speed reducer to stop it from crashing down and slamming.
I have tested a system that works but after moving workshops it was dismantled, one key issue I have at the new place is a wall strong enough to hold the machine, the frame is not the issue, to compensate for this the support arm is fixed to the floor, rather than the wall, which puts the tables weight through the floor.
In a month or so I will hopefully finally get time to update the design and share it,
Sorry for the delay, it is not a money making task so all other income streams get prioritised over any free share projects.
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