Here's My Router

[mvaughn]

Originally posted by cbcnc Ahh, the cutting table. When I first planned it I was thinking of MDF spanning the 44 1/2" with 3/4" angle iron on the outside edges. Well after cutting the iron into the MDF and trying it out, it was too bouncy. So I went to the local scrapyard and bought 20' of 1" square, 1/8" wall, tubing. 4 pieces of that and the table with a 22 lb. weight sags about 12 thou. That's good enough for this router and what I'll be cutting. Oh yeah, since I didn't want screws up into my cutting table I glued the tubing to the MDF with Liquid Nails. Chris

One thing that I haven't seen done yet is providing support for the table via bearings mounted inverted on the gantry. If your gantry is stiff enough your could mount some rollerblade bearings on the top of the gantry losswer crossmember. the bearings would ride along the 1inch square steel tubing. This way if you had a saggy table it would be lifted to the correct height as the gantry slides under it.

[mvaughn]

Originally posted by cbcnc Shortcomings on my design: You might as well build a steel frame for the cutting table to sit on. I only had 1" to work with and thicker tubing would be better. Like maybe 1 1/2" x 1". The gantry is only held down by gravity. So linear bearings that held the gantry down would be better. Use 5/16 or 3/8" bolts to bolt to the Black pipe. 80 oz. motors are just barely strong enough. I find that I can stall an axis fairly easily. Use shielded cable to wire your motors and switches. I found that my Porter Cable Trimmer put out alot of RFI and caused the steppers to noticably jump when I turned it on. Have Fun, Chris

good advise, I expect my first machine to have shortcummings as well. I'm not worried about it because I'm mainly doing this for the "because I can factor", and I'll probably only use it to cut the parts for an all aluminum version before I retire, recycle, or sell it.