Not sure if this is the right location to put this. I ordered the QCW frame. Ofcourse I have not yet received mine. I am, however, having 2nd thoughts. I misunderstood the design of the QCW frame perhaps, and now I’m having buyer’s remorse. I can try to contact onefinity to cancel the order but I want to give their design a fair shot.
I don’t like the idea that we cannot flatten the whole area. So if you cut a pocket inside it, that’s the maximum size you can cut and it won’t allow you for tiling larger pieces. Ofcourse you can put another piece no top of it all and surface it, but then you loose 3/4" of z height.
Some suggestions to onefinity attached.
It would be neat if we could have actually SMALLER spoilboards in the middle, and they can put beefier frame underneath to prevent flexing/warping. Then we could Larger pieces can still overhang in the area where cutter doesn’t reach anyway. But we would be able to surface the spoilboards.
I agree with Alden. You really need to build what works for you. For example the Z axis has over 5" of movement. If you place the 1F feet on your table and then put a spoilboard on top of the table (say 3/4" MDF) you’ve now reduced the Z axis by 3/4" of an inch. For most people that’s not a problem but for others it could be.
My suggestion is to get your 1F and use it. From there you can change it as needed. I upgraded to the Journeyman but realize that the extra width is rarely going to be needed. I have plans on using the 1F to make templates for parts to make a rocking chair. Depending on the size the runners could be more than what would fit within the 32"x32" size of the woodworker. So I just bit the bullet. But I bet if you asked you would find very few people who actually tiled.
Looking over the qwc diagram you can still make it fit and surface the entire wasteboard. Since you are supplying the mdf you can cut it shorter and less wide to fit the size of your surface bit cutting area. Just shorten the length of the 5 pieces and and rip the edge pieces to the correct width to fit the surfacing area. Remember, your surfacing bit will cut wider than 32.25 depending upon the bit size.
are you worrying about the frame not being stiff enough and could be warping/flexing?
I find it difficult to judge on it in advance. Onefinity sells it as Engineered to be rigid without sagging. This QCW Frame is not exactly what I initially planned as my table top but it promises to be something working out of the box (good), and furthermore even could be used with no table at all, so I ordered one. Yes, giving their design the chance to prove its stiffness (and squareness also I hope)
I’m with you that with this QCW Frame, you loose a little bit from the Z Axis workarea. In fact you loose at least the T-Track’s height if you want to go milling downwards.
What I miss in the Draft of QCW Frame.pdf they published now is the exact height of these T-Tracks. In the draft, there is only the measurement from frame bottom to machine’s feet (1.864″) and then one measurement from frame bottom to upside of whatsoever MDF (2.553″) wasteboard piece.
I would enjoy if the measurements were more complete
That’s a great point Mr. Southwick. I didn’t think of that until last night at 3am while as I lay awake pondering my next onefinity move. I came to the same conclusion. But…what fun would it be if I didn’t make it more complicated than it needs to be?
Tom, any update on when your video may be ready? Looking forward to seeing some of the details. I have a Journeyman on order with the OCW and trying to conceptualize a cart/table for my machine.
I bought the under for the Journeyman and watched the recommended video. They fast forwarded through the initial assembly and attaching to the 1F. No help at all in helping figuring which is down side up etc. I plan on putting mine together this weekend and will attach pics if successful
What I like about the QCW is really quick to assemble. It just saved me a lot of time (over building my own table), which I never seem to have enough of.
And yes, you can cut the MDF sheets and have a fully flattened wasteboard without overhang if you want to mill objects larger than the wasteboard area. Or add a little MDF in the center.
I am not sure that you loose any hight in the z-axxis. You can simply have the router sit a little higher in the mount to compensate for any wasteboard thickness.
