I’m curious if anyone has tried, or is aware of anyone else that has tried creating a removable table insert that would allow for the possibility of working with much taller objects. For example, engraving the sides of something like a large box, or really anything that was too big to fit within the standard Z-travel? I’m aware of something along the lines of Frank Howarth’s pivoting bed, but is that overkill or even a good idea with such a small bed size?
I’m envisioning an insert that rests on a platform below. It wouldn’t really need adjustable height since the top wasteboard surface would be flattened along with the rest of the wasteboard. When you remove the insert, there would be a clamping system permanently mounted vertically below the table to hold the object you want to engrave.
Really just looking for inspiration, photos, maybe a YouTube video, or “hey buddy, that’s a stupid idea!”.
I started to cut a 5" x 12" slot in my torsion box top to allow this very thing. At the last minute I abandoned the idea I would have to remove my spoil boards strips and T-Tracks to really utilize it. Added to that in the 3 years I’ve been using the X-Carve I never really landed on a need.
Nice thing is with the portability and quick setup of the OneFinity, you can literally create a second table with a massive hole in it for exactly what you are thinking. Then you have the normal deck for all your traditional machining then pop the machine off and onto your hole table to knock out those large shapes.
Thanks Alex. My goal is to enclose the machine to help reduce noise. Moving the Onefinity from one table to another would probably never happen for me. I have a 600mm x 1000mm laser with a fixed bed height. My sister-in-law does custom home decor & furnishing pieces. She’s always asking if I can engrave family motto’s on the sides of serving trays, and various other things that would be too hard to vertically fit within my laser. That’s what spawned this whole thought process.
The idea is pretty cool, it makes me think of the AP Laser and how they are setup. If you’re configuring the OneFInity to do the same, I’d suggest having the CNC mount to the table frame, with the waste board being the removable part (as long as it’s supported properly). Then, you can move the “taller” workpiece underneath using a with a lift table or other supports to lift it into place.
You’ll also have to drop the Z axis to the lowest setting to be able to cut “below” the base of the router, and even then you’ll still be limited by the overall travel of the Z axis.
This certainly doable and has been done.
Personally I’d just make the table C shape and a part of the waste board removable.
From there a lot depends on your use case(s).
You might want a vertical board with T track under there.
A lot of work like this has been done with / for the Shaper Origin. You might want to look on their forums. Some of this would not apply to a gantry machine but a lot would.
Oh man, a lift table would be super awesome! I’ll toy around with that idea.
The C-shape is a good idea. The vertical t-track board is where my mind was initially going.
And thanks Mark - the joinery cutout is one of the things that spawned this whole thing - seeing people use their CNC to mill mortise & tenons, box joints, etc… I figured if it would work for joinery, it would work for cutting designs into the sides of oversize objects.
I actually cut holes in a pvc electric box the other day with my Shaper Origin that would have been impossible for a gantry machine without this mod, so definitely worth while for some people and projects.
Great idea IMHO. I’m designing the back of my torsion box to have a C. Through work can be done in addition to dovetails.
I’m also thinking of adding a pivoting fixture in the C to allow cuts like in this link. Not sure where I’ll use it, but it looks cool and he’s made some interesting joints with it.
