I recently modified the vacuum table of my cnc router. The mdf spoil board had been curling up and making it a hassle to get sucked down when I go to use the machine. When the company I bought it from was here setting up the machine I asked them what they do to hold the spoil board down to the table. They suggested wood screws into the vacuum table. Needless to say this project has been on the back of my mind for coming on three years.
First I had to draw the machine bed in cad. This went well considering I didn’t do any probing. I added brass threaded inserts to the vacuum table so I can bolt the spoil board down. While I was at it I switched to using strips so the t-tracks are exposed for clamping. Last thing was a X0 Y0 fence to make setups quicker.
This shows how this fence is used. Makes for quick setup most of the time.
New fence parts bolted down. Dry fit domino between X and Y in the corner.
Outside profile and surfacing done on the machine.
Fun project. Learned a lot. And, the spoil board no longer fights me when I start the vacuum pumps.
I really like having the X0Y0 fence. This makes the super glue/blue tape method a lot easier for me.
I recently bought a Hallmark ITTP touch probe so I can use probing cycles to set WCS offsets.