Re: wooden table for a router

Thanks,

For a desk-top routers, I am sure that wood will work great. my PCB
drilling machine is MDF and does not have any side loads like a
router would have.

I seem to remember Les Watts mentioning his machine has something on
the order of a few thousand pounds of side loading capability. seems
a dull router bit on hardwood would test the strength of many
machines.

I'm thinking that a wooden table of roughly 10 ft by 6 feet would
have potential warping problems with humidity as well as concerns
about rocking from repeated accel and decell of the gantry.

Dave





--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com, Charles Knight <charles@i...>
wrote:

> >
> >
> >I friend was amazed at my CNC stuff and since he is a carpenter,

he

> >asked if I could make him one.
> >
> >I told him that a steel table is $$$ and he asked if anybody uses
> >wood for the tables ?
> >
>
> It's not yet done, but this is my new "hardware store"

machine...it's

> mostly MDF, but built with U channel construction. It's STIFF!

Flex

> will likely not be a problem...and would certainly not be a

problem for

> woodworking. Wood moves with humidity FAR more than the flex

present in

> this machine. (I've made some progress on it, since this photo was
> taken. My router is mounted in a proper Z axis, the drive screws

are

> conected, and the motors are ready for a test run. I've also fully
> supported the rails, for an exponential increase in stiffness.)
>
> http://members.ivwnet.com/~chuck@i.../cncfront.jpg
>
> This machine is a bit overbuilt for its capacity (18x24") but it

should

> be able to handle anything I throw at it.
>
> The table (I assume you mean the work surface itself) is made from
> slatwall, a commercial style display system for retail stores. It

has

> channels cut into it, and will be used with a bolt and a flat

washer as

> an "integrated clamping system." Thanks to some rails beneath the
> table's surface, it's held quite rigidly flat. While I've not

measured

> it, yet, I don't expect any significant variation from practically
> perfectly flat. And, if there is, I can always "grind" it down

with the

> router, itself. Being an MDF product, it has no grain and will not
> warp, except under its own weight, which is properly supported.
>
> There are also many others who have built machines using this basic
> style of construction, who frequent a site called

http://www.cnczone.com

> in the "homebuilt wood routers" section. Lots of good ideas,

there, for

> people on a budget.
>
> The secret is going to be making it sufficiently stiff...not too

hard,

> if you use proper construction. Remember...wood is a reinforced
> composite material, not terribly unlike fiberglass or carbon fiber.
> *Use* it to your advantage! Keeping a 4x8' table stiff may be a
> challenge, but it's definitely an achievable goal.
>
> -- Chuck Knight