Hi there. I received all the pieces and parts to the CnC. My first of many questions is (and I also asked support this), I have a journeyman with the QCW and 3 of the slots are 8.75 inches - if I have one that is 8.5 will it still work in there. I ask this to avoid having to go buy more MDF to enable 2 sets of all the MDF boards.
Thank you and I hope someday I can help one of you all.
Sounds like you are setting up a Journeyman on a QCW table? If so, nice choice, that’s what I’m working with right now and I love it.
I’m pretty sure that you’ll be able to screw down spoil board slats that are a little narrow, and probably not even notice it in day-to-day use.
You mention two sets of boards, are you putting spoil board on top of the slats between the t-slots? I think I saw that in an instruction manual somewhere….. chose not to do that myself. I thought it was a lot cleaner without the top layer, and didn’t have to give up 0.75” of Z capacity. I might regret that later, though.
Seems to me if you can screw the slats in securely that you won’t notice the 1/8” gap on each side of the slat too much, and you’ll end up replacing that spoil board eventually anyway.
Yes that was my plan, put in the core base of the 5 slats and then put another layer on top and flatten it. Thats the plan unless its stupid. Thanks for the response. Appreciated more than you know. It was my first post here 
As @SamuelBarker mentions, I too don’t believe that extra 1/8" gap on either side is going to harm anything.
If you want to keep things consistent cut all three at 8 5/8" that’ll give you 3/8" back… 1/8" MORE than cutting one at 8.5" AND will make your setup easier, IMHO, since you’ll have less dimensions to keep track of, and the gaps on either side will be the same in all three bays.
Since I had most of the QCW supports drawn for another project, I put a quick MDF spoil board on top and just projected the holes all the way through.
You still have plenty of support underneath and lots of MDF for the screws to get a grip on.
Also, Welcome! As a wise man once said “Every journey begins with the first question” (Or something like that)
2 replies already! You guys rock! Makes me want to take a couple weeks off of work to focus on this. This is my ‘retirement’ side gig sort of plan. Hope it works out.
Just kidding! A lot of people seem to do quite well making 
part or full time with these machines.
I’ll warn you though, if you haven’t done it before, the absolute WORST boss I ever had was… me.
The spoil board is just what it is spoil board to be discarded after it gets abused over time. The gaps in between the rails and board will not make a difference. As long as the gap is small the screws will still ingage with the board to hold it down.
On the same note, since I have been a machinist all my life I need a side gig to keep my mind active after I retire next spring. This machine will keep me entertained in my retirement.
Also I did get the QCW but decided not to use it because I made a vertical table in my work area for doing joinery. I did not get the legs at the time I ordered the machine but that was before the came up with the stiffening pcs for the legs.
Cheers
All mine are slightly off the recommend size because I am lazy and didn’t care if they were perfect. I am anti T track so I’m putting a solid layer over the first one anyway. I wish they made QCW with no track so you could just slap down a piece of MDF…maybe if I get some gumption I will flip around my end supports on the QCW so the t racks will all fit under a 49" wide piece of MDF and then use the t track to hold down the spoil board. Welcome! Don’t worry about making money just have fun!
Thank you so much everyone for all the replies, again, for real, this response is quite amazing esp for coming from a first time CnC owner and poster. Again, hopefully you dont get tired of my newbie questions.
Keep the questions coming. Everyone here is very helpful and learn from each other. It won’t be long before you’ll be answering other people’s questions, or sharing ideas and experiences.
