Tabletop Enclosure

[tlempicke]

I really liked the Shopbot full enclosure but the price seemed a little high, at least until I looked at the price of plexiglas.

Here is my version of it. I made it tall and large because i like to have a little room around me when I work on stuff. The back and base are made of 3/4 inch plywood (at last that is what sLowes calls it!) and the rest of 1/2 inch, I used two sheets of 1/2 and one sheet of 3/4. The widows are made from 1/4 inch plexiglass. I used 2 36x36 pieces and found some on line that was truly .250 thick.

It seems to weigh about 60 lbs. It does a really good job of damping sound. You can just barely hear the spindle operating, and talking in normal tones while cutting is not a problem.

Total bill for the project was about $300, I did the cutting on my Buddy 48x48 but a lot of it could be done on a table saw.

The windows are set on to 1/4 inch ledges and held in place by aluminum tabs 2 inches long. After I put them in place I filled the trench between the opening and the plastic with silicon caulk for sound damping.

http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=25590&stc=1http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=25591&stc=1http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=25592&stc=1http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=25593&stc=1

[garyr6]

Nice box and the right color I might add. I too like the enclosure but found it expensive. Maybe I'll try your approach.
Nice work.

[Coogara]

That's a good looking enclosure. Very nice result. I like the interior lighting - it looks well thought out.

Graeme

[myxpykalix]

Here is a tip for cheap plexiglass...Go down to your local habitat for humanity store and you can usually buy aluminum storm doors complete with large panes of plexiglass for like $10-$20.00.
I did this for a front pane for my solar hot air heater and my solar hot water heater.