Hi.
I’m a new member, considering getting a OF Woodworker later this year. Besides the actual OF, there are quite a few components of my (eventual) setup that I need to plan for, the first of which is the table for the OF, which I’ll be building. The space where the table will be located is somewhat limited; so I want to keep it as small as I can, but able to accommodate other accessories, like a vacuum hose support, a drag chain and an enclosure. So, I want to get dimensions that are fairly accurate.
The specifications in the installation and instruction manual give the OF footprint as 45 3/8" wide and 45 3/8" deep, excluding the display. rowdyroman gives the depth as roughly 49", including extra space in front for the dust shoe, which implies that shoe projects about 3 1/2" beyond the footprint. Is that correct?
The table is recommended to be 60" wide but it appears that is mainly to provide space beside the 1F for the controller. Is that correct?
My table will have a pretty robust frame with a 3/4" baltic birch top. Do you think there’s any problem with that, specifically with respect to rigidity. Are there any other things I need to take into account when deciding the size of the table.
Correct. However, there are dust shoe designs that put the hose behind the X-rail and then you’ve got no extension beyond the machine footprint in the front.
I believe the recommendation is 6 ft not 60"/5ft. But yes that’s for the controller. You also need room for the wiring connections to the motors and slack so you’re not trying to make a right-angle connection as those connectors plug straight in.
My table is 4ftx6ft and I could easily have made it 4ft x 5 1/2 ft. and still been comfortable with the control box mounted elsewhere.
That’s going to depend on what you mean by “pretty robust”. But you’re likely fine if you make sure the table won’t rack on you. The 3/4" ply tabletop is a solid base. Many of us have built a torsion box tabletop which allows you to use a thinner top but then you’ve got the box to build instead. A straight 3/4" is fine, a torsion box is more than fine
Where are you going to put stuff when you’re using the 1F? A lot of people look to put things like the joypad, probe block, wrenches, bits, etc. etc. next to the machine or even on the bed You also need to think about if you’ll use a monitor (vs a laptop) and where you’ll mount either. I have places I’ve setup just for those. My controller is in a cabinet attached to the tabletop, my monitor (the 10" 1F) is on an arm on top of the cabinet, my laptop is mounted on a swivel stand I’ve attached to the side of the cabinet, rare-earth magnets hold my wrenches to the side of the cabinet, the joypad is attached to the 1F monitor mount (using the monitor’s magnetic block - I popped it off with a knife), the touch probe block slips into a mount under the laptop tray, etc. All of these store away in drawers in the cabinet when I’m done (mine is a rolling tilting table so I put all the loose stuff away when I store the table against the garage wall).
You’ll have all these things out when you’re using it and it’s usually a PITA to keep putting them away in drawers so that’s why people often have oversized tables so they can put things on the table next to the 1F. The downside of that is sooner or later you’re going to put something down in a place where it will get caught by the rails as you use it and then jam up your machine or lose steps as the motors stall out and ruin a project.
My table is the size they recommend. 3/4" plywood should be strong enough. But it is also important that it is flat and that the frame supporting it is rigid and doesn’t have any twist in the top plane where the plywood sets. Unless you get Baltic birch, the plywood won’t be very flat. I opted to go with two layers of 3/4" MDF that was glued and screwed together, which was less money that a single sheet of Baltic birch. I used the trim pieces for my spoil board.
I wouldn’t try to go much smaller. As mentioned above, you need space for running your wires and for the controller. I think it is important that the controller is close by and not covered up so you have fast access to the emergency stop button.
I have a pretty small shop but decided the space savings for a roll-around flip up wasn’t that great when you consider the footprint of the base. Several folks have created storage space with shelves or drawers. I decided to leave the space below my table open and I store my garbage cans and shop vac under it, so my lost space is actually somewhat minimal since those items were taking up floor space in the first place.
My rolling flip-table (Drew Fisher’s design with some mods) is substantially smaller when flipped up & rolled against the wall vs when opened and being used.
Stored it’s 22" deep by 84" long. Unfolded it’s 48" deep and 84" long. So just from a floorspace footprint it’s really nice to be able to fold it. On top of that though I usually maintain a couple of feet in front & back when I’m working on it so if it were going to be permanently setup I’d be looking at an 8x8ft space.
I use it in my garage so it’s tucked against the wall when not used and then one car is left outside when I set it up to work. Might take an extra 5 minutes to setup and put away vs a fixed table. If I hadn’t built it, I’d not have anywhere to set up a CNC. Too many other things also taking up room.
I saw that the Infinite Dust Collection Kit includes the PWN shoe, which has the hose behind the Z-carriage. I’m going to ask a separate question about dust shoes.
By “pretty robust” I meant “like what I built for the woodwork bench” in my wood shop - although not quite as robust as the one RexH mentioned in his reply below. I hadn’t thought about a torsion box but I’ll look into that.
I take your point about where all the other “stuff” will be stored. I had given this only a little thought, since I was mainly concerned about the table itself; but you’ve made it clear that I have to think
about a cabinet at the same time. I’ll add that to my list of things that I have to make prior to getting the 1F. Your cabinet design sounds pretty good. What are its dimensions? Can you post a picture of it?
From doing woodworking, I know that regular plywood won’t necessaily be flat, or very uniform thickness. Your suggestion about using two pieces of MDF is interesting.
I wasn’t going to make my table the absolute minimum size; but I didn’t want it too much larger than what I thought would be necessary for essential addons, such as a drag chain, vacuum hose mount, dust shoe, enclosure, etc.
I checked out the table design you mentioned in your post. It’s given me a number of good ideas. You obviously put a lot of work into it. Your design is essentially what I had in mind, except that I wasn’t planning to make it quite as robust (with 4x4 legs and 2x6 rails) as you have.
I note that you use 4" dust collection hose (and corresponding custom dust shoe). I asked the professional who installed the commercial-grade dust collection system in my woodwork shop about using 2 1/2" hose (which the OF shoes are designed for). He suggested going to at least 3" hose, with an adapter from 2 1/2".
Sorry about the bad link for the table design. I thought I just took the link for the entire thread. Not even sure how to link a specific post within the thread. Looks like I need to learn how to do that.
Clicking the chain link pops up a box with the link & a copy button. Then you can link it just by pasting it into your message where you want it. Like this:
Aiph5u
(Aiph5u (not affiliated with Onefinity))
12
Hey Rex,
no need to feel sorry, everybody found your nice table
yes, in the good old times of static www content, the URL in the address bar contained the path to the page and would not change until you click on a link to the next page. But here in fact the URL in the address bar changes dynamically while the visitor scrolls the page, this is because discourse.org forum software renders a dynamic web page content. So as long as one line from previous posting is visible, there will be the path to the previous posting in your address bar
Which is why using the chain link icon on the bottom of a post is the better way to get the URL - it contains the thread number & also the post number within the thread.
Yours above is …/10895/12 appended to the address for the forum & category.
Aiph5u
(Aiph5u (not affiliated with Onefinity))
14
I built a table that is 47 3/4 W X 49" deep
I build an enclosure on the table that is 22 1/2" tall, The overall height of the unit with the base is 59" tall.
This would be the minimum size I would suggest. 2022-02-07T05:00:00Z
Thanks for the pictures. I was planning to build an enclosure that would be about 27 1/2" high, mainly to accommodate rowdyroman’s hose boom. So, I was interested to see that you hadn’t done anything that special with the vacuum hose.
I can see from the pictures that you have a hinged front door on the cabinet. Is it see-through, ie, plexiglass or similar?
And it appears that you have a sliding panel on the sides. Is that true? If so, what’s that for?
I am using a hose boom (see picture). The front of the enclosure slides back and with a hinged door. plexiglass windows. I slide the enclosure back to set up the cut, slide forward and close the door when cutting. Helps with noise and dust. The suckit boot on the router works really well (if you remember to turn on the vac. I also made a flap in the back so that longer projects would be moved through the enclosure. Hope this helps. I read many article from others before building my enclosure.
Thanks for your last pictures and explanation. I now see how you’ve designed your enclosure.
I’m thinking of making a rigid frame (out of, say, 1x3s) and then having removeable (or maybe hinged) panels on the sides and back (for access) and a hinged plexiglass panel on the front.
I’ve seen quite a few designs for OF tables on the forum (and elsewhere) and notice that many have tops comprising 2 laminated layers of 3/4" MDF or a torsion box.
If the Y-rails are made coplanar and square to the X-rail (using techniques described in other posts) and the table top itself is flat, like 3/4" MDF or Baltic birch plywood, why is having a table top more rigid than this beneficial? That seems intuitively reasonable, but I don’t understand exactly why. Is this solely to maintain coplanarity if the table is moved; or are there other reasons.
Is the added mass from a laminated top or torsion box also beneficial? If so, why?
I’ve also seen a number of designs with an optional opening in the front to accommodate routing of vertical workpieces. That seems like a useful capability but likely precludes using the QCW. Is that true?
You also need to think about if you’ll use a monitor (vs a laptop) and where you’ll mount either. I have places I’ve setup just for those. My controller is in a cabinet attached to the tabletop, my monitor (the 10" 1F) is on an arm on top of the cabinet, my laptop is mounted on a swivel stand I’ve attached to the side of the cabinet, rare-earth magnets hold my wrenches to the side of the cabinet, the joypad is attached to the 1F monitor mount (using the monitor’s magnetic block - I popped it off with a knife), the touch probe block slips into a mount under the laptop tray, etc. All of these store away in drawers in the cabinet when I’m done (mine is a rolling tilting table so I put all the loose stuff away when I store the table against the garage wall).
