Joes 2006 expandable to 6 feet?

[henrydavis]

I would really like the ability to cut a 2x6 section of wood with my Joes 2006 and was wondering if I would be able to extend the torsion box to accommodate a 6 feet travel would the machine still perform well? My cutting needs don't require any sort of speed and if it took 4 hours to make my cuts I wouldn't care. We're talking 20 ipm is ok by me, seriously! I would think it would be a fairly easy mod and if it didn't work out I would know I would need to start saving for a larger Joes Hybrid.

Thanks for any input!

[mlabruyere]

Since you are looking at a specific material size I assume you are going to use this for a commercial activity. In any event perhaps you should look at a Joes 4x4 with the R&P option and bump it up to 4x6. You'll keep the rigidity you need and will get cutting speeds in the 200IPM range (or better) and rapids of 500IPM or more (of course your section of steppers, drivers, and power supply will impact these numbers as well).

Matthew

[henrydavis]

No commercial use here. If I did have that intention I would have went hybrid from the get-go. It's just that some of the things I would *like* to cut would work much better if I had 6 feet to work with.

So, is it feasible? I don't see the upgrade really costing much and it would be a much easier alternative to building an entirely new machine.

Thanks.

[NIL8r]

Have you thought about using dowel pins in the table, cutting holes or slots on the board, and repositioning the board? You would just need to run a seperate program for each half. I think some people making large(long) signs would use this method.

[henrydavis]

I've never thought about doing that but it does strike me as very interesting. Anyone have any examples of how this is done or some that have implemented it?

I really am just looking for an answer as to whether or not extremely slow cut speeds would be possible if I were able to extend the torsion box and get a six foot lead screw?

[bgriggs]

Originally Posted by henrydavis I've never thought about doing that but it does strike me as very interesting. Anyone have any examples of how this is done or some that have implemented it? I really am just looking for an answer as to whether or not extremely slow cut speeds would be possible if I were able to extend the torsion box and get a six foot lead screw?

To cut a 6' part you need a leadscrew that is more than 6' long.

Bill

[ger21]

In addition to needing longer screws, you'll also have to build a 6-7ft long torsion box that doesn't sag. If you can build it stiff enough, it should work fine.

[NIL8r]

Originally Posted by bgriggs To cut a 6' part you need a leadscrew that is more than 6' long. Bill

Not totally true. You can reposition the workpiece to get longer cuts.
The program would have to be split to do this. Set zero point, run first program, reposition wokpiece, set new zero point, cut next "section" with another program.

To make things a bit quicker to set up, cut holes for dowels in the table to use for workpiece set-up. Distance between sets of dowels should be set to a specific distance. Use one set of dowels to locate board for your first cut. Use the second set of holes (with dowels) to locate the workpiece for next cut.