I have the Elite Forman and the moving mass is substantial on the Y axis, my machine has the Stiffy installed as well. I’m considering connecting the CNC to the wall to reduce vibration. Before I create a solution, does anyone have a fix they can recommend? Anytime I search for “Attach CNC to wall to reduce vibration” I see people literally attaching their machines to the wall, which is cool, but not what I’m looking for. I have the QCW and the fixed legs. The machining results are still good regardless of the movement, I will be machining aluminum and I’d like to address this problem before I attempt to cut metal.
I think there is, I’ll make some brackets to brace it to the wall first and then if that doesn’t do the trick, I’ll add some bracing. I may end up building my own bench with some storage, I don’t really have the time for that project yet and I figure if I’m having this issue, other people are too, we should have something that anyone can make on their own CNC machine to at least improve it.
Does seem odd that out of the box it has flex, my woodworker makes the wood bench I made move and it’s got over 3 sheets of 3/4 ply (plus over a sheet of 1/2) in it.
If someone has a model or detailed drawing I could sketch up something. All I can find is waste board drawings though.
It’s a tough problem to solve with the machine being so heavy duty, it is… well heavy. Normally for something commercial, the machines would have a massive base to counter that, I can see a strong steel welded or bolted frame working well and also fastening it to the floor being a good option. There have been some comments in other threads about movement, not necessarily related to the fixed legs and some of the comments suggest that the movement below is not important because everything up top moves at the same rate. It’s not a bad way to look at it, but if we’re seeing the vibration, it will translate into our parts, if they’re wood, it’s probably not going to be noticeable, if they’re metal… well, that remains to be seen. It is better to address IMO and avoid the problem and I don’t think it’ll take too much work to get it into a better place.
Agreed most big machines have a fixed base, if your going to pushing the machine in aluminum your likely to cause flex in the system if there is any so any additional bracing would be to you benefit.
I’d be hesitant to bolt it to the wall as that will limit your ability for pass through, though not sure if that’s something you’ll need/use and with the foreman you’re not short on space
Are you seeing flex in both the Y & X or just the Y?
I’m seeing a small amount of movement during fast X moves, but it’s nothing compared to the Y axis. It does seem to be the legs mainly, they’re hollow Aluminum connected to the CNC with bolted aluminum plates. I was thinking about the pass-through a bit and wondering why a part needs to be passed through to the back, wouldn’t it be much better to extend it out front and retain the shop space? It would make sense to me to rotate the part around and have some pins/holes to correctly position it. I guess I’ll have to try it at some point to see how it works, but you’re right, the machine is large enough that I don’t see it being used much. I wouldn’t mind getting a 1F Machinist CNC to do small parts on, it would be much easier to keep rigid for small metal parts. I could even cast a Epoxy Granite base for it!
Pass through to the back for me is for the times where I’m doing something that is >2x the depth of my machine, with the foreman this is a lot less likely given most things come in 8’ lengths in NA. Flipping the piece also means you have to support 1/2 the piece in front of the machine where you have to work.
Interesting that the Y is so much worse, must be enough movement in the bolted connections to allow the flex. Looking at the QCW pictures on the site, there doesn’t look to be much for existing holes to brace across. As the quick fix your probably on the right track with connecting it to the wall to at least prevent some movement. Longer term you could run something between the existing brace to the leg mounting point to make a triangle, this could even be aircraft cable with a tensioner on it.
I guess I just need to experience it to know for sure. I’m in a 20’ x 20’ shop space with 3D printers, metalworking tools and woodworking tools and it can be pretty cramped at times, I also have lots of filming equipment which I am desperate to get mounted so I can have it up and out of the way. I like the tensioning idea with cables, that is an option for sure. I still think long-term the solution is a heavy steel frame, but maybe a full solid wooden bench with cabinetry also would work and maybe it could even be on casters at that point.
I’ll try a connection to the wall and see where that leads and I’ll see if I can design it in such a way that anyone can make the parts easily if they run into the same problems.
Thanks for the help, I’ll post here when I have the solutions going.
