Matt Kraft
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| 29 Jul 2008 09:26 AM |
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We have an AXYZ that is about 5 years old.
We are having a problem with being able to secure and attach new spoilboards to the gray plenum that zones off your table. Our plenum on our machine is a machined piece of MDF, that has t-nuts mounted in the blind hole where the plenum is attached to the aluminum bed of the machine.
Well, it seems every time we change spoilboards, we find another t-nut or two that won't tighten due to the barb on the t-nut having stripped away the MDF due most likely to overtightening. There is not really a way to remove the plenum with tearing it up as it is sliconed around the ports where the vacuum zones pull air. I know if we attempt to pull the plenum off, it will be tore up beyond repair. (its MDF after all)
AXYZ will send me new ones, but I would really like to have a different system where this problem is eliminated.
Anyone else run into this? Have any suggestion for a good long-term solution? |
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Andy
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| 29 Jul 2008 10:24 AM |
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I have a MultiCAM with a black table. The 3/4" MDF gets put over the top of that and it is sealed around the perimeter with a rubber seal.
I layed out the table on the CAD program and used the cnc to drill holes in the black table. I then tapped the holes to accept a bolt. Now anytime I change the MDF spoilboard, I just unscrew the mdf and replace. Of course when you make the new one, you have to recess the bolts down a bit so they never come in contact with the router bit.
This works pretty good and I will try to post a picture today if I can remember.
Hope this helps, |
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andy@thefabricatornetwork.com
Countertop Company - www.OliveMill.com |
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Matt Kraft
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| 29 Jul 2008 10:44 AM |
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Andy, this is the plenum with the spoilboards off. You are saying, you drilled right through this and bolt the boards down through the plenum and to the bed of the machine?
Currently the gray bolts you see inside the red seal attach plenum to table, the areas where the primer has come up are the bolts used to hold the spoil board to the plenum, many of which have the t-nuts that don't grab any more. |
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| "It ain't no sin to be glad you're alive...." |
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Matt Kraft
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| 29 Jul 2008 10:53 AM |
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Andy, do I have to upload that picture to the gallery to get it to post?
The mountain image is not in my text editor anymore.
Its either that or the fact that I'm slightly retarded from denatured alchohol and styrene fumes. |
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| "It ain't no sin to be glad you're alive...." |
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Andy
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| 29 Jul 2008 11:57 AM |
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Posted By Matt Kraft on 07/29/2008 10:53 AM
Andy, do I have to upload that picture to the gallery to get it to post?
The mountain image is not in my text editor anymore.
Its either that or the fact that I'm slightly retarded from denatured alchohol and styrene fumes. All you need to do is "Browse" below the text box. You are basically attaching a message. Make sure there is some text, otherwise it won't work. I fixed it for you on the previous post. |
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Andy
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| 29 Jul 2008 12:09 PM |
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I drilled directly into the gray (mine is black) spoilboard and then tapped it to accept a bolt. I then drilled a recessed hole through the spoilbaord and right into the gray table. Just make sure you don't overtighten because you will strip the hole. |
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Tom M
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| 29 Jul 2008 01:01 PM |
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Matt,
We mark where the solid thickness lines are on the grey sub board and screw/countersink the spoilboard. We have plenty of room to make sure we don't hit the same holes twice and it has worked out fine. |
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| "Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt." - Shakespeare |
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Paul Bingham
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| 29 Jul 2008 03:24 PM |
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Matt,
My machine has an aluminum grid, I think they have been using the Aluminum grid for a couple of years now. Maybe it's possible to switch to the new system.
Paul |
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Tom M
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| 29 Jul 2008 06:51 PM |
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Paul,
We have aluminum below the waffle board stuff.
Yours is different? |
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| "Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt." - Shakespeare |
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Paul Bingham
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| 29 Jul 2008 07:47 PM |
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Tom,
The grid is now made from aluminum instead of an MDF waffleboard. If I get a chance in the next couple of days I will take the spoil boards of and get a picture for you. You can have the table set up in just about any configuration of vacuum zones as you want. Mine has 8 zones. You can drill and tap the table for screws if you wish. I simply lay the boards on top and flip them each time I refinish the boards. They stay pretty flat without the hassle of screwing them down, even in the high humidity days of summer.
Paul |
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Paul Bingham
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| 21 Aug 2008 05:51 AM |
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Tom,
I finally got some time to get a few pictures of the table. |
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Tom M
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| 21 Aug 2008 08:44 AM |
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Paul,
Thanks for posting the pics. I wonder if they did this for the expansion problems? I would think the trade-off would be a worse coefficient than MDF to MDF. |
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| "Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt." - Shakespeare |
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Brian_Stone
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| 21 Aug 2008 09:01 AM |
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I'm sure it probably had to do with the problem that Matt was having too. We always had the same issues with ours. We would just move the location that we were screwing into the waffle board. Eventually you're going to end up running out of places that can still hold a screw. |
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Tom M
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| 21 Aug 2008 09:58 AM |
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Hmmm...
We've had our router for 7 or 8 years and never replaced the waffle board. Our volume and usage hours are much less than the average shop, though, so that has a lot to do with it.
Brian, do you have a g-code to drill the locations for the mounting bolts when you replace the spoilboard? |
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| "Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt." - Shakespeare |
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Andy
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| 21 Aug 2008 11:17 AM |
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That is basically what we have, but we set up a program to drill the holes. Just drill the holes in the existing aluminum nad tap them. Now you can bolt the mdf down to the aluminum and it won't move on you. The holes never have to be redrilled in the aluminum just the new mdf pieces.
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andy@thefabricatornetwork.com
Countertop Company - www.OliveMill.com |
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Brian_Stone
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| 21 Aug 2008 03:21 PM |
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I have no g-code. I no longer work for the fabricator that has the AXYZ. I'd have to hack into the network and I don't think they would like that too much. :) |
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