Unistrut

[jseiler@bluemarble.net]

Hi,

I'm considering a prt96. I was wondering if anyone has had any luck building the table for it out of unistrut (www.unistrut.com). It has some advantages if it can be built stiff enough.

[Brady Watson]

I would definately rule out using UniStrut for the actual table frame. TeleStrut *may* be something that you could use since it is fully boxed in.

By the time you buy all of that UniStrut...You could have a welding shop buy, cut and deliver a beefy steel table like the one ShopBot sells.

-Brady

[jseiler@bluemarble.net]

yes, this is true, one could buy a welded table. I was looking for ease of movement. The shopbotfactory table would come apart for moving and so would a telestrut table. I was thinking with uni/telestrut I could save a few dollars and get some flexibility in configuration (could add under table storage easily, could bolt to rails to raise or lower the bed). It might not be worth the added effort.

[jlawren6]

You might also look at tslot aluminum extrusion as a material to build the table from (www.tslots.com (http://www.tslots.com) is one of many manufacturers). It's strong, easy to assemble/teardown, and gives you a lot of flexibility for future add-ons or changes. The vast majority of our assembly lines for production (large automotive parts supplier) use this for the machine bases. A lot of DIY CNC routers use this as well. I've not checked into pricing in detail though. Might be more than you want to spend. Just another option.

[Brady Watson]

To do an entire table out of the AL extrusions is quite pricey.

The real issue is stiffness. You really want the table to be as stiff as possible because any movement from the table base with directly transfer to your parts being cut. If you move the spoilboard (not the legs) up or down as you described, you will most likely have to surface the spoilboard again to make sure that it is perpendicular to the router.

Search this forum for posts on table bases. There is a lot of info on things that people have successfully done, and some that didn't work out.

-Brady

[bjenkins]

I agree with Brady-- good quality aluminum strut that is stiff enough for this application will cost you more than the ShopBot table. If you are just wanting to save money, build it yourself. It isn't that hard. I bought the steel at a local yard for under $400. Steel has gone up a lot but you can calculate the cost pretty fast by calling a steel yard and getting the current cost. You need a chop saw to make it easy-- only ~$150. Assuming you have a good 1/2" drill, the only other thing you need is bolts and hardware. You can download the plans. It takes some time, but it will save you money.

[Jseiler (Unregistered Guest)]

Thank you for all the responses. I'll probably have a local machine shop weld one up for me.

John