Floor space required

[johnandrhondawebb@netzero.net]

Good ideas John. Got tons o' shelves. Forgot to mention I would be focusing on doing residential signs to get me through the learning curve. The guy that shares the building at my day job wants me to start cutting kiosk cabinets for him since the guy he's using now is slow- cutting them manually with a bunch of jigs. I keep telling him, uh... I don't even know how to use the thing yet...

In any case, John, why can't I use the Bot for a scroll saw or a drill press,... just a bit change, right?

Also, I was thinking of putting the Bot on the shop side without the garage door so I can still use that area if I need to, but then I was thinking, if I get a job cutting designs into big headers or something, I might need to use the opening if the beams don't fit in the shop. So... garage door side or not? your experiences?

The other question- corner placement or center placement? Was thining it might make sense to setup equipment in a u-shape representing start to finish- ie. table saw (stock cutting), dust collector unit, Bot, desk/pc, drill press or other post cutting equipment, sanding/assembly table & holding bench. I'm definitely putting the finishing/painting table in the other room.

Sorry for all the ?'s... it's gonna get worse 8^)

John

[johnandrhondawebb@netzero.net]

Forgot to toss this in there... for any of you guys who live in severe weather prone areas, just released this at the day job... Storm Predator. Very useful, especially if you're in Tornado Alley- doppler image analysis software tracks storms & intensity levels, alerts you via cellphone/email/pager when rain gets over X Dbz (you set), does cell tracking, path projection, & probabilities for being hit, & provides ETAs.

PS. I'll get some shop pix up so you can see what I'm talking about. - John

[davidallen]

simulating a jointer:

cut a shallow pocket (about 1/32" deep) the length of the table and about 1" wide using the CR command.
(make a note of the start position)
use the edges of the pocket to align your boards edges and clamp them down.
recut the pocket to square the board edges to each other.
reclamp the boards so you can access the other sides.
use the prior starting point to cut the boards to length and square the other sides.

[donframbach]

How I simulate a jointer:

very similiar to David's method

1) lay out and then mark boards as they will be assembled in the panel

2) position two boards at a time on the ShopBot about 1" apart as they will be assembled in the panel. My ShopBot table has a number of fine scored lines so it is easy to lay the boards down parallel to the "X" axis. I elevate the boards off the table by clamping them to 1/2" plywood strips that leave a gap between the two boards.

3) using a spiral bit, make fine CLIMB cuts to both adjacent edges. (my last cut is .02") This makes very fine edges exactly parallel to each other (I have made my system as square as possible and I believe my rails are straight too. By doing both boards at once, any discrepency is mirrored onto the mating board so the fit is exact and I believe better than what can be achieved with a conventional planer!)

[donframbach]

John, I have my ShopBot centrally positioned so that I can access the table from all sides. It makes clamping MUCH easier.

Don

[Lee Cheney]

Rick,
I built my own steel table for my PRT 96, but I increased the length of the legs to 48". This allows me to store my Unisaw and a compressor and my shop vac (all on rollers)underneath the Bot. Its not as ideal as a large shop would be, but it works. The increased height of the table doesn't seem to be a problem for me but I'm over 6' tall. I also positioned one end of the Bot facing the garage door to facilitate loading large workpieces.

[rick@sinanju.com]

Since I have a pretty tall garage - 9" to the rafters, and 3-5 feet over that, I was wondering about putting the shopbot on a taller table, say at 4 or 5 feet. Then my outfeed table for the table saw can go under that. I was also considering HANGING the outer edge from the rafters - that means no legs. As additional support, I'd put steel "L" braces on the walls. I could even put some lighting under the shopbot table.

Just wondering if anyone has tried this? I figure the weight of the table and hardware should be around 250-300 lbs - no problem for the rafters to handle, especially since most of the weight will be on the wall.

Of course I would hang it using a 2x4 frame or steel rods. Something that is not flexible.

Then there's the opposite approach - putting it on a SHORT table, say a foot of the ground. Then my table saw can go over it. But that would be a LOT harder.

Rick