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View Full Version : How Often Do YOU Level Your Table Surface?



tim_whitcher
03-02-2006, 06:40 AM
I seem to have to surface my table to level about every two months. How often do you do it? My floor is wood (three layers of 1/2" boards; it's an old grain storage building circa 1920's), and my table is wood. Also, what do you use for a spoil board??

donchapman
03-02-2006, 09:03 AM
Mine's wood on casters on a concrete floor and I move it frequently.

I just resurfaced the 2x4 cross supports yesterday for the first time since building the table 6 years ago, but it probably needed it long ago, both because the wood moved and the rollers on my old PR96 have worn deep groves into the channels, especially in the area where I do most of my routing.

Most of my routing is for exterior signs which do not require much z-axis precision. I decided to replane this time because I'm experimenting with the PhotoVCarve program, which demands a level surface.

I've always used 3/4" MDF as my spoil board and replace it fairly often depending on how much I've destroyed it. I can look at the old piece and see many of the projects I've done within the past few months.

Brady Watson
03-02-2006, 10:14 AM
Tim,
Most people resurface the spoilboard when it A) becomes ratty from cutting too deep and/or B) When you start getting deeper cuts in some places and shallower ones in others. Resurfacing cleans it up and flattens it. The main objective is to get it flat...I no longer care if there is a gouge here or there.

Many people use MDF, I find that it is very moisture sensitive. I have been using Medex on my machine for several years with good results. It is more stable than MDF (Medex is also called MDX). Next time I replace (add to existing by gluing down) my spoilboard, I will use Extirra. It is an exterior MDF and it is very stable and very water resistant. This should reduce resurfacing due to fluxuations in the Z.

If you are just doing profile cutting, then keeping the spoilboard flat is not as much of and issue than doing Z-intensive files like v-varving, 3D and pocketing.

-Brady

tim_whitcher
03-02-2006, 05:21 PM
I've experienced high spots of up to .0625 of an inch. I've been using OSB board. I'd like to try MDF, but I've heard that it creates a lot of dust, and that it's pretty hazardous to enhale. I know the OSB creates enuff dust as it is!

kerrazy
03-02-2006, 05:46 PM
I use 1" Extirra applied to a piece of cabinet grade G2S plywood. I have been using this method for over a year and a half, and it holds up real well. I use the 1 inch so I can get some extra surfacing before changing it out. I surface it once every 6-8 months or if I have a job that requires special attention I surface the table and tweak the rest of tool at that time. With the extirra, I don't have to worry to much about humidity fluctuations, as it is fairly stable.
My jast surfacing was in July, and when I run new parts I sand smooth the surface where I may have dug in a bit on a profile pass or where I have a worm hole from a screw.
Also I screw the perimeter every 6 inches with a .5 counter sink and then every foot down the middle of the board to ensure it stays flat

Dale