Plowin up the new TTrack

[Xray]

Adds to the spoilboards character !

[Brady Watson]

FYI - SB sells the parts you broke individually...Or you can use Q-bond or Bondic to fix it. Any of those options is cheaper than a new one. The Kent is nice if you don't have it in you to use your CNC to make one.

-B

[myxpykalix]

This is why i don't use t track....because i would hit it for sure. I also do not use any metal in my holddowns. I have a jig that holds the part to a 90 degree corner then i just have a piece of mdf or pine that i shove up against it and screw it down to the mdf jig.
I also for a lot of situations don't use dust collection. I want to see where the bit is going and if you hide it inside a dust collection hood you can't see danger before it happens.

[David Iannone]

Thanks Monty, I went ahead and got the standard shoe, 2" brush ring and 2 of the .5" spacers. I am defiantly looking forward to easier access to tool changes.

Brady, yeah I did realize I could get the new plastic piece from SB for $45, but truth be told I have been eyeing the Kent show for quite a while now. I had considered making my own, but I don't think I could have done as nice a job as the kent setup. Plus I tend to procrastinate on projects for myself. It would have kept getting pushed aside.

Dave

[curtiss]

I skipped the track and simply drilled 1/4 inch holes through the "high spots" in the vac plenum / which have worked pretty well for a long time. (the plenum is covered with trupan)

No problems with the use of the vac table from what I see.


The holes can also be used for "Pull down" where some lag screws hold the workpiece from the bottom... works great but you have to miss the screws.

[David Iannone]

Curtiss,
I think that is a great idea.

Looking back on it now I have had my vac table with ttrack up and running a few months now and I made it a 8 zone. I thought I knew what I needed, but now realize I went with way too many zones first of all. Second is when I do need to clamp, my track is rarely in the right places. I think I could get away with 3 zones. a 4x4 and 2- 2x4. Sure would of saved money on the dang ball valves. And the ttrack only LOOKS cool (imo) I should have put the money into a new PRS style longer z and just had a ttrack insert piece (maybe 4x4) to throw on the table and hold it with the vac hold down. As well as putting in some inserts like you speak of. Or making specialty jigs etc.

But, this was my first rodeo with any other hold down than just a MDF table and screw hold down so I went a little overboard. But I must say the Vac hold down is awesome, working great. Well worth the money and time. Only thing I should have done is do 4 motors instead of 2.......but I did build the box design for 4 motors and pluged the other 2 ports so I can at least add 2 more motors in the future.

At the end of the year I might just rip the table down to the stringer again and start over now that I THINK I know what I am doing.....LOL

Did you put some kind of threaded insert in the 1/4" holes?

I just got the Kent CNC Dust shoe in today. It is super cool. I am not trying to short change myself, but I now know after seeing with my bare hands that I am happy I bought one instead of making one. But thats just me. I only use my CNC for basic stuff and cutting signs. I am not smart enough to design such a nice gadget.

I look at like this.....I just bought the Donek Drag knife tools a month or two ago. I know you don't need this tool to cut coro and cardboard clean. (although I have had NO luck doing so prior). The Donek tool is like the Kent shoe. A specialty tool, one time fee, should last forever and should pay for itself very quickly in time savings, and does its job flawlessly. Good specialty tools are not cheap. But once you have them you are like "why the heck didn't I get this years ago when I saw it?"

Dave

[curtiss]

The holes I used were placed at 5 1/2 inches center to center.

I thought I might have to tape the bottom of the hole when using the vac but did not find that necessary.

I inserted some threaded tee nuts on the bottom of the 1/4 in holes and use a basic wood hold down clamp with a long slot above.

http://www.fastenersuperstore.com/ca...FYI8aQodIgIAPA

I use one big 48x48 zone without any plumbing... I "zone it" with plastic on top....

[ntraub01]

The Kent dust shoe is worth every dollar!

We had sporadic issues with the OEM dust shoe and it usually resulted in a huge panic and material loss as well as some not so great grinding sounds from the steppers. Since installing the Kent shoe I could not be happier and we no longer have to watch the machine like a hawk. Having the DC on the front of the machine was actually a good thing for us as we have a laser transformer mounted to the back of the gantry which always wanted to grab the DC hose when somebody wasn't watching like a hungry hawk.

We purchased both the short and long haired bristles as well as a spacer, yet we are going to soon purchase another spacer because of the extended shank on our surfacing bit. (Large surfacing bit = huge amount of dust!)

Honestly, I'm surprised SB hasn't worked out a partnership with Kent to replace their OEM dust shoe with the Kent system. In my opinion, the OEM shoe is the only part that "feels" cheap out of the entire SB system.

[elcar903]

ah the Z zero issue lol, have done that a few times myself.