My PRSstandard 4x8 arrives on Monday! After a year+ of dinking around with the Handibot, I am very excited to get moving with a full size machine. And I expect to be a frequent visitor to this forum as I fail my way to success getting this all up and running.

I will be cutting a lot of full size sheet goods, and I won't have a vacuum table. I am obviously looking for maximum versatility and flexibility for hold down methods and, if possible, I would especially like the option to hold down stock without screwing it to the spoilboard.

So two questions:

1. If you were putting together your Shopbot from scratch, how would you do the table/spoilboard set up? Per Shopbot instructions or modified in some way?

2. Does anyone have an opinion about the "Super Track" method that r26D used when they put together their Shopbot? You can see the blog post here: http://www.r26d.com/2015/01/30/keep-...e-super-track/

Potential issues I see:
  • less Z travel
    what about 97x49 MDF sheets or oversized stock in general?
    what about variability in plywood dimensions?
    concerns about spindle hitting hold down clamps?


Thank you!
Brian