Required Clearances

[archis]

I'm considering the purchase of a bot but need to know if I will have enough room. How much working clearance is required on all sides of the machine? Can the machine be put against a wall? What type of clearance is required above the machine? Thanks in advance.

Jim

[dana_swift]

Jim- with the new E-Chain equipped shopbots, running with a standard 8' ceiling has lot of clearance. I'm just an SB owner, check with the folks in Durham for complete answers.

It will depend slightly on which model you are considering. The specs for an alpha machine are 68" of vertical space from the floor, thats just under 6 feet. Most likely any place you would be likely to install it there will be no issue with vertical space.

Directly above the router itself its nice to have about a foot or so to make room for dust collection hoses, pvc adapters you might add, etc.

Its normal to adapt your ShopBot to whatever your specific uses for it will be. That is one of the things you will come to appreciate about them.

Talk to the people in SB sales, they will help you make an appropriate choice for your needs. Tech support at SB is world class, they will be able to give you guidance also.

The forum is a good place to find out what users like myself have experienced, and how we got the machines to work the way we needed.

Good luck, keep us posted, and Welcome!

D

[archis]

It sounds like the vertical clearance will be OK for my basement but I'll be sure to touch base with the SB folks about the other questions. Thanks for your input.

[widgetworks_unlimited]

One note on the vertical clearance... a tall ceiling gives you a lot more/easier options for running your dust collection hose.

If you look closely at the pics and videos posted here, you'll see that most machine setups look similar except for the way the dust hose is run to the spindle. Those with low ceilings have to do more work to allow the hose to stretch to the corners of the table, without it snagging on the gantry/kinking up/getting cut/etc... when cutting at the center of the table.

Our bot is next to a garage door. When the door is open, the bot is actually 1/2 under the door. We rigged an arm from the ceiling to hold the hose below the open door which works ok. That cut way down on our "ceiling height" and the hose hits against the gantry when cutting in the center of the table. It hasn't caused a problem yet, but I'm always worried that it will cause issues with one of the motor/sensor/ground cables that are exposed in that area.

[knight_toolworks]

you need at least some space on all sides. I don't have enough on the less used left side but I can still get to it. about 2.5' would be good on that side. the other you would use more to unload and you want more space. the end you want to load from really is best to be a straight shop of free space. but at least 8' is really needed. the other end needs at least 2.5' or more.

[chiloquinruss]

Steve is right on. 8 feet on the load end and 2.5 everywhere else should work. The clearance just adds to the setup / cleanup / pick up parts efforts. If you have a low ceiling there was a thread here some time back that had a really cool 'swinging' boom to hold the dust collection hose. I can't seem to find it right now but I'm sure some one will point the way. Have fun and enjoy your Bot. Russ

[chiloquinruss]

Found it.

http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/messages/23372/29166.jpg

Russ

[dlcw]

At least 3' on back and right side, 2'-2.5' on the echain side.

If you are doing full sized sheets of plywood, you will want at least 9'-10' in front of the machine to load and unload parts.

The 3' on the back and right will enable you to unload parts there. The only thing I need clearance on the echain side of my machine is to get to the controller boxes and do regular maintenance. Also, make sure you have room for a workstation where your computer will be located (near the 'Bot).

If you are mainly doing carving projects with smaller pieces of material then have front clearance for your largest blanks plus about 1'-2' feet for maneuver room.

As far as dust collection , you can either hang the dust collection tube from the ceiling allowing enough slack for the gantry to move around, or you can run the tubing along the echains. I thought of this but decided that that amount of flexing would shorten the life of the DC hose. For my DC hose, where I use rope to tie it to the ceiling, I have a 90 degree elbow so there is no rubbing of rope on the hose itself. Anywhere I have the hose held up I use a straight section of PVC pipe or elbow so prevent wearing of the hose. Make sure your DC hose has a grounding wire running through which ever way you decide to run it.

Don
www.dlwoodworks.com (http://www.dlwoodworks.com)

[magic]

I must be a mouse. I have 16 inches around 3 sides and 3 feet off the end/ Sometimes I need to jump up on the table to screw things to the board but i need the excersize.

[archis]

Thanks everyone for the input which leads me to another question. I'm wondering if any bots other than the buddy can be mounted on wheels? Do to my space limitations, I may have to have the bot parked on the side when not in use.

[dana_swift]

Jim, just my opinion, the larger bots can probably work on wheels also, but they take up more space when not in use and have less flexibility when it comes to run-time configuration. I have a BT-32 on wheels, as well as 4' and 8' powersticks. My BT-32 gets heavy use, so it never gets "put away", but the wheels are extremely handy for cleaning UNDER it. Just roll the thing out and vacuum, then roll it back. Clean!

The buddies are also very rigid due to the small size and being built from the same gantry parts. So rolling them around will be less likely to twist them out of square, which takes time to correct. I also work with a BT-48 regularly and it is every bit as rigid as my BT-32.

My BT-32 has a reasonably small footprint when it is not in use, and having limited space, doubles as a table/workspace like any other flat surface.

My only suggestion is if you can possibly get one, go with the BT-48 so you can handle full width sheet material much more easily.

Standard bots are just fine if you don't do production cutting, but Alphas are nice if you can afford the price increase. Mine is an alpha, and I am glad to have the extra torque when handling long powersticks.

Jim, what will you be making (mostly)? When you have a bot it seems so easy to build things, many new projects just crop up. This weekend I built paper-towel holders for the shop. I think that is a very normal experience. I dont expect to ever make them again, but if I do, its just run the cut files again.

D

[widgetworks_unlimited]

Jim, Many folks have asked about wheels. When you get your first CNC and start thinking in tolerances of 0.001" you'll understand why adding wheels to a full size machine is an incredibly difficult task.

If it could be done, it would take a lot of extra steel bracing to make the machine rigid enough to maintain tolerances. Practically speaking... these things already weigh +1,000 lbs out of the box. You'll need a forklift to push it around. Got room for one of those?

[archis]

After everyone's input, I'm thinking I will be looking at a 48" buddy. The larger older machines are attactive due to their price, but I really think the buddy is what will fit my needs.

As to what I'm making, I really have the cart before the horse on that one. I'm not sure as of yet. I'm just very big believer in local production and want to build a hobby business that can eventually help me get out of my current corporate day job.

I'm probably the odd bird in this group, lots of computer experience and little to no woodworking experience. It will be interesting