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  #121  
Old Wed 30 March 2011, 13:25
melissa
Just call me: Melissa #83
 
Brighton (Ontario)
Canada
I'm using 4x8 sheets across the width of the table, cut to 1900mm [74.8"].

They'll be joined with biscuits, and glued with PL Premium construction adhesive. I'm confident that the glue joint will be stronger than the MDF.

That's why so many sheets... the table is a bit more than four sheets long.
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  #122  
Old Wed 30 March 2011, 13:31
smreish
Just call me: Sean - #5, 28, 58 and others
 
Orlando, Florida
United States of America
...staggering the joints on the top layer?
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  #123  
Old Wed 30 March 2011, 13:38
melissa
Just call me: Melissa #83
 
Brighton (Ontario)
Canada
Quote:
Originally Posted by smreish View Post
...staggering the joints on the top layer?
Of course. The 4' section from 0,0 will be in the top layer, to make resurfacing easier. I expect that not all areas of the spoilboard will wear away equally quickly.
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  #124  
Old Wed 30 March 2011, 23:06
melissa
Just call me: Melissa #83
 
Brighton (Ontario)
Canada
Here's a shopcam photo of the painted MechMate.

The drop sheet has been rolled up, as I need to drill 96 holes from underneath to mount the support board. The wheels on my mechanic's creeper would not do well on the plastic.

Once all the holes are drilled, I'll roll out the drop sheet and close the tent once more, to glue the parts of the spoilboard together. The glue needs 20C to dry properly, and it's still hovering around 5C in the workshop.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg shopcam_table_painted.jpg (28.5 KB, 834 views)
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  #125  
Old Thu 31 March 2011, 07:43
smreish
Just call me: Sean - #5, 28, 58 and others
 
Orlando, Florida
United States of America
Melissa,
Great work. It's fun as always to be here from almost the beginning and see 70+ machines built. Only one other machine equals your in size and length and it was used to cut aluminum boat hulls.

Can I ask what your intentions are to use such a large platform for cutting?

Sean

Last edited by domino11; Wed 13 August 2014 at 10:11..
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  #126  
Old Thu 31 March 2011, 09:06
melissa
Just call me: Melissa #83
 
Brighton (Ontario)
Canada
Sean,

my intentions were to build a large machine once because I had the space available . I didn't want to find myself wishing the table was a bit longer, after the fact.

It's such a common predicament in boat ownership that it has a name: "two-foot-itis" . Wishing your boat was two feet longer.

As for cutting... right now I'm looking at stitch&glue plywood boat kits, as well as folded horn subwoofers. Beyond that, who knows. I've also got a lead at the local lumberyard. Apparently carpenters in my area are looking for someone with a CNC router. All good prospects!

BTW, I'm already happy I went wider than the "usual" 48" cutting width. Baltic Birch (which I use for speaker cabinets) comes as 5' x 5' sheets. It would be silly to have to cut them with a circular saw, just to fit them on the MechMate!

Melissa

Last edited by domino11; Wed 13 August 2014 at 10:11..
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  #127  
Old Thu 31 March 2011, 13:47
smreish
Just call me: Sean - #5, 28, 58 and others
 
Orlando, Florida
United States of America
...All reasons why I built my first table as a 5' x 10' table...then wished I made it for 5' x 12' sheets!

You might find yourself doing some custom work where you can dedicate one end of the table for vacuum or special duty purpose fixture work and keep the general area clear.



Thanks for the reply.
Best on the rest of the build.
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  #128  
Old Fri 01 April 2011, 12:36
melissa
Just call me: Melissa #83
 
Brighton (Ontario)
Canada
Work starts on the spoilboard:
Attached Images
File Type: jpg biscuit_joiner.jpg (19.8 KB, 780 views)
File Type: jpg inserting_biscuits.jpg (9.3 KB, 778 views)
File Type: jpeg row_of_biscuits.jpeg (10.7 KB, 777 views)
File Type: jpg spoilboard_partial.jpg (30.4 KB, 777 views)
File Type: jpg shopcam_spoilboard_partial.jpg (30.8 KB, 777 views)
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  #129  
Old Fri 01 April 2011, 12:45
domino11
Just call me: Heath
 
Cornwall, Ontario
Canada
Melissa, looking good, Ahhh Princess Auto, I love that store.
For you US guys, Harbor Freight is the same thing.

Last edited by domino11; Wed 13 August 2014 at 10:11..
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  #130  
Old Fri 01 April 2011, 15:30
HomeMadeCnc
Just call me: Tim
 
Calgary, Alberta
Canada
Coming along nicely, bolting it down will be fun Keep working at it, its one heck of a machine to use!
have you seen delftship, its free and exports dxf files just your size
Tim
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  #131  
Old Fri 01 April 2011, 16:48
camilleg
Just call me: Camille
 
Urbana, Illinois
United States of America
Tim, delftship sounds cool -- particularly that Melissa doesn't need to second-guess their translations to English.

Heath, them's fightin' words! Comparing The Princess to Harbor Fright is like comparing Tim Horton's to Starbucks. Don't do that if there's Canadians within earshot that you can't outrun.

(Oh yeah, Melissa, serious milestone reached there, moving from metal to wood at last.)

Last edited by domino11; Wed 13 August 2014 at 10:12..
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  #132  
Old Fri 01 April 2011, 19:07
domino11
Just call me: Heath
 
Cornwall, Ontario
Canada
Camille,
Not comparing, just giving the closest reference I could think of. Maybe Princess should go to the US too! Although it would probably be nice to have a HF close to me just over the border.
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  #133  
Old Sun 03 April 2011, 22:35
melissa
Just call me: Melissa #83
 
Brighton (Ontario)
Canada
Did I mention the table is long?

Support board (5 pieces!) slotted for biscuits, and all holes drilled. Next up is recessing the holes with a forstner bit, and installing it permanently with glue between all sections.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg shopcam_support_board.jpg (24.6 KB, 711 views)
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  #134  
Old Mon 04 April 2011, 09:23
camilleg
Just call me: Camille
 
Urbana, Illinois
United States of America
That's enough biscuit-joinery to prevent Quebec from leaving Confederation.

Last edited by camilleg; Mon 04 April 2011 at 09:43..
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  #135  
Old Mon 04 April 2011, 12:49
MetalHead
Just call me: Mike
 
Columbiana AL
United States of America
Looks like a MechMate runway !!!
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  #136  
Old Mon 04 April 2011, 13:09
Gerald D
Just call me: Gerald (retired)
 
Cape Town
South Africa
Aircraft carrier
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  #137  
Old Mon 04 April 2011, 13:34
camilleg
Just call me: Camille
 
Urbana, Illinois
United States of America
OK that's 3 in a row... Melissa, when you crack a bottle of bubbly on the prow, please christen her the H.M.S. Hyperbole.

Last edited by domino11; Wed 13 August 2014 at 10:12..
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  #138  
Old Mon 04 April 2011, 16:37
melissa
Just call me: Melissa #83
 
Brighton (Ontario)
Canada
Two more photos of the table top, with bolts temporarily installed:
Attached Images
File Type: jpg spoilboard_with_bolts.jpg (21.1 KB, 667 views)
File Type: jpg landing_lights.jpg (9.9 KB, 666 views)
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  #139  
Old Mon 04 April 2011, 17:04
bradm
Just call me: Brad #10
 
Somerville(MA)
United States of America
Aw, now I gotta chime in too ... Since you've got the spikes in place, how about telling us which cities are at the ends of your rail lines?

Nice looking table, BTW.
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  #140  
Old Mon 04 April 2011, 17:55
melissa
Just call me: Melissa #83
 
Brighton (Ontario)
Canada
How do you drill a recess with a forstner bit, when there's no wood left to guide the point? Answer: add some wood around the outside . Here we go.

I made six guide blocks from off-cuts of the spoilboard. Each was drilled with a forstner bit on the drill press, all the way through. Top view:
guideblock_top.jpg

Bottom view: note the beveled edge (we'll get to that in a minute)
guideblock_bottom.jpg

The guideblock is placed over the hole, and visually centered:
guideblock_over_hole.jpg

And then I used a brad nailer to drive two 1-1/4" 18ga brads through into the spoilboard, to hold the guideblock in place:
brad_nailer.jpg
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  #141  
Old Mon 04 April 2011, 17:59
melissa
Just call me: Melissa #83
 
Brighton (Ontario)
Canada
I need a drill collar, but that doesn't work very well when the bit is this large! So the collar gets larger:
forstner_bit.jpg

When the collar touches the small piece of wood, the drill is deep enough:
drill_with_collar.jpg

And what it looks like when it comes out:
drill_shavings.jpg
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  #142  
Old Mon 04 April 2011, 18:06
melissa
Just call me: Melissa #83
 
Brighton (Ontario)
Canada
Now to remove the temporary guideblock. I use my renovator's bar (like a crowbar, but it's much nicer to the wood). This is why there's a bevel on the bottom edge -- easier to pry it up.
prying_guideblock.jpg

Here is the newly recessed hole, with the guideblock:
guideblock_with_brads.jpg

Checking the bolt for depth. I didn't want to press it in yet, as the boards still need to come out to be glued.
testing_hole_depth.jpg

Even with six blocks, they need to be re-used 16 times, so I need to remove the brads. They're too thin to hammer out, and you can't pull on the point, so I use vise grip pliers and my renovator's bar:
prying_brad.jpg

Here is the removed brad:
brad_removed.jpg

Easy! Only 95 left to go .
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  #143  
Old Mon 04 April 2011, 18:14
HomeMadeCnc
Just call me: Tim
 
Calgary, Alberta
Canada
I just eyeballed mine!, one heck of a job. Once you resurface your going to have to seal it all, I used water based polyurethane. Worked great
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  #144  
Old Mon 04 April 2011, 18:14
JamesJ
Just call me: Jim #104 (retired)
 
Kansas
United States of America
Melissa, give double sided tape a try instead of the brads.

Last edited by domino11; Wed 13 August 2014 at 10:12..
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  #145  
Old Mon 04 April 2011, 21:44
melissa
Just call me: Melissa #83
 
Brighton (Ontario)
Canada
Quote:
Originally Posted by JamesJ View Post
Melissa, give double sided tape a try instead of the brads.
Too late, all that drilling is done now.

Besides, I wanted something that would be strong to sideways forces, but weak vertically. The brads worked like a charm.

Last edited by domino11; Wed 13 August 2014 at 10:13..
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  #146  
Old Thu 07 April 2011, 23:18
melissa
Just call me: Melissa #83
 
Brighton (Ontario)
Canada
Top layer of the spoilboard is ready to be glued in place.

I filled the bolt holes with "bondo" polyester filler. The top sheets will also be joined with biscuits, though I'm using regular white glue for this layer.
bolt_hole_filled.jpg

The biggest challenge was where to put the four sheets I needed. They had to be inside the tent to be warm, and off the table for glue application, but the tent isn't big enough for sawhorses at either end of the table...

OK, looks like we're going up instead .
spoilboard_glue_prep_1.jpg
spoilboard_glue_prep_2.jpg
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  #147  
Old Fri 08 April 2011, 00:24
Gerald D
Just call me: Gerald (retired)
 
Cape Town
South Africa
Did you use "bondo" before tightening the screws?

My idea, after suffering some loosening with time, was to tighten the screws first and then pour in a thin resin. That resin is meant to soak into the porous MDF around the screw head, especially into cracks that may have formed while the heads bit into the wood. It makes for a "harder" bond between screw and board, over a slighty bigger area than just the screw itself.
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  #148  
Old Fri 08 April 2011, 09:48
melissa
Just call me: Melissa #83
 
Brighton (Ontario)
Canada
I used bondo after tightening the screws.

I did opt to use lockwashers, so there's some spring tension that will hopefully keep things snug. If it really becomes a problem later, I can always put on a new spoilboard. We'll see, I guess.
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  #149  
Old Fri 08 April 2011, 10:01
camilleg
Just call me: Camille
 
Urbana, Illinois
United States of America
It would be messy, but to really spread the load beyond the screw heads, adhere the lower half of the spoilboard to the full length of each crossbearer (or even just a one-foot bead near each bolt). Sure, it's gluing onto paint, but the bond isn't strongly stressed, and down there nobody will see how ugly it is. Wait 'til Canadia warms up and the tent comes down, and then sacrifice a tube of PL Premium to the cause.
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  #150  
Old Sat 09 April 2011, 16:28
melissa
Just call me: Melissa #83
 
Brighton (Ontario)
Canada
At last, assembly starts. The spoilboard is done, the tent is gone, and the rails are in place!
Attached Images
File Type: jpg table_with_rails.jpg (31.0 KB, 548 views)
File Type: jpg rail_closeup.jpg (27.9 KB, 549 views)
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