Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 19

Thread: UnSpoiling the Spoil Board Afternoon

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
    Posts
    65,675

    UnSpoiling the Spoil Board Afternoon

    It was high time to "go nuclear" on my spoilboard as it was down to about a quarter inch and there have been some Z-height anomalies recently that I attribute to the same, including the factory table under it likely moving a little after over two years from moisture, etc. Since I'm not really able to do any kind of fine work yet while I recover from recent eye surgery, I took advantage of this "low tech, low detail" opportunity to run my machine.

    Of course, taking bigger bites than normal surfacing to get rid of the old and make sure everything was level produced an overwhelming amount of nasty dust that didn't make it into the DC...darn, and I just cleaned the shop the day before my eyeball got dealt with. I guess I'm going to be cleaning it again sometime this week so I can get back to working on more interesting things next week.

    IMG_8248.jpg

    There in fact was a bit of a dip in the middle. It's gone now...and time to glue on a new spoilboard as soon as I can dig the sheet of material out of the rack. It should be no surprise that it's behind a bunch of other material. Go figure.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  2. #2
    Good job, Jim! Hope your recovery goes well.

    I surface my auxiliary spoilboard often - I keep about a 21" square piece of 1/2" MDF on top of the 'real' spoilboard because that's sufficient for about 90% of the work I do. I take a clean-up pass of about 0.010" at 400 ipm and it's finished in about a minute. But my DC gets virtually all the dust, matter of fact, I don't see any when I finish the surfacing even if I take a deeper cut.

    Was your filter clogged or something else preventing the DC from sucking up the dust?

    David
    David
    CurlyWoodShop on Etsy, David Falkner on YouTube, difalkner on Instagram

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Bloomington, IL
    Posts
    6,009
    What is up with your dust collection? That is terrible performance
    Glad its my shop I am responsible for - I only have to make me happy.

  4. #4
    Hmmm all of a sudden my shop doesn't look to bad........
    Thanks and have a great day!!

    Rich

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
    Posts
    65,675
    RE, the dust collection.... I was taking a much deeper cut than normal (5x deeper because of the need to remove the last remaining bit of old spoilboard and level) with a 1.5" diameter cutter (not my normal insert cutter, but a less expensive two-wing "propeller") that was slightly below the hula-skirt. The latter was my bad...I should have seated the tooling deeper in the collet, but, well...my vision isn't exactly great presently. The amount of debris it was producing with the big-bite was more than could be evacuated by a 4" drop and the nature of the material was also causing it to get caught up in the hula-skirt, too. The last couple of refining passes at .01" left nearly zero debris. And on the passes next to the machine's left edge, the skirt was also hanging off the table and the direction of the cutter spin sent it in that direction unencumbered. That's the mess showing in the photo. So the responsibility for the mess lies with "me". So does the cleanup...

    This too shall pass.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  6. #6
    We don't get the best pickup with MDF and a 5HP cyclone unless the tool is fully confined in the dust shoe. Bigger tool (nearly 4") but even on modest cost the tool creates enough turbulence under the shoe and even with an extension on the shoe some gets out. Get off the edge of the part and forget it. Pickup is way down.

    Mess is no where near as bad but no where near 100%. Barring small cutters and conservative cuts,, unless you've got a house around your spindle and perhaps 8" drop to the spindle your not gonna get it all.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
    Posts
    65,675
    Mark, my observation is similar, especially after making that boo-boo with not sinking the tooling farther into the collet to keep the shoe down to the surface. The cutter I used was also as I described...more like a propeller...than my normal insert cutter which is pretty clean during normal cleaning. MDF fibers are stubborn as you mention...they stick to stuff like the hula-skirt tenaciously for sure!

    But it's done. New surface is on, slots for the tee-track access are cut and after I take off my gluing clamps (which very much resemble about 150 evenly spaced pocket screws ) it will get one last quick surfacing of the new board and I'm good to go for the next year or two at the rate I use my machine. Professor Dr. SWMBO helped me lift the new board onto the glue-slathered surface...so I guess she earned her high salary and bonus for being the corporate CEO today. (That really is her title for the business)
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Becker View Post
    RE, the dust collection.... I was taking a much deeper cut than normal (5x deeper because of the need to remove the last remaining bit of old spoilboard and level) with a 1.5" diameter cutter (not my normal insert cutter, but a less expensive two-wing "propeller") that was slightly below the hula-skirt. The latter was my bad...I should have seated the tooling deeper in the collet, but, well...my vision isn't exactly great presently. The amount of debris it was producing with the big-bite was more than could be evacuated by a 4" drop and the nature of the material was also causing it to get caught up in the hula-skirt, too. The last couple of refining passes at .01" left nearly zero debris. And on the passes next to the machine's left edge, the skirt was also hanging off the table and the direction of the cutter spin sent it in that direction unencumbered. That's the mess showing in the photo. So the responsibility for the mess lies with "me". So does the cleanup...

    This too shall pass.
    We are like David and surface very often but your in for the ultimate joy of a dead fresh spoilboard. I resurface a few times a week when cutting a lot and its always a joy even after years.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
    Posts
    65,675
    Yea, dead fresh is nice. But dead flat is even nicer...that was clearly evident to day when I was routing the tee track access channels and the ask for .76 was dead nuts on with almost no onion skin over the track. Material was nominally .764" thick from multiple caliper measurements. I had been experiencing some wonky Z height behaviors this summer and did find during the process of milling off the remainder of the old board that things were not what they needed to be. I'll be checking for tramming tomorrow, too, just to validate it's still accurate.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
    Posts
    65,675
    I finished up this task this morning...after removing my clamps (about 75 screws )...a quick surfacing with the "good tooling" (almost no dust) and some sealing of the edges got er' done. I'm ready for a couple of projects I'll be cutting next week, one of which is some carvings that really needed the precision back. Funny...this thing looks just like it did two years ago, albeit not quite as clean around the edges.

    IMG_E8256.jpg
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  11. #11
    could you not make a simple set of cauls that would be slightly crowned and clamped with your outer t tracks to kill all the screws? I envision something like deck off the old spoil board, tossing a sheet on the machine with maybe 2 2 screws, and either drilling or spotting a half dozen or eight holes, pull the sheet off, glue and clamp the full sheet down with the cauls, then remove the cauls, and machine the t track slots and deck the whole thing off flat?

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
    Posts
    65,675
    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Bolton View Post
    could you not make a simple set of cauls that would be slightly crowned and clamped with your outer t tracks to kill all the screws? I envision something like deck off the old spoil board, tossing a sheet on the machine with maybe 2 2 screws, and either drilling or spotting a half dozen or eight holes, pull the sheet off, glue and clamp the full sheet down with the cauls, then remove the cauls, and machine the t track slots and deck the whole thing off flat?
    I have cauls but clamping them down is tricky. (I did it that way last time) While the screws were slightly tedious, I pre drilled a grid of small pilot holes (with the CNC) this time and then put in screws. That pulled it down very securely and honestly, didn't take any more time that affixing full width cauls and doing the clamp dance. The grid of holes will serve as a nice visual clue for putting smaller workpieces on the machine aligned with the axis, too...most of my work is not big. Only my tack trunks are "full (actually half) sheets".
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  13. #13
    Makes sense.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Tampa Bay, FL
    Posts
    3,895
    OMG, Jim. That machine is a beast.

    You know when there's a YouTube video of someone lifting a machine with a forklift, you're in the major leagues.

    How'd you get it into your shop?
    - After I ask a stranger if I can pet their dog and they say yes, I like to respond, "I'll keep that in mind" and walk off
    - It's above my pay grade. Mongo only pawn in game of life.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
    Posts
    65,675
    Quote Originally Posted by Alan Lightstone View Post
    How'd you get it into your shop?
    It's only about 900 lbs...it's actually a small one. Weighs less than my slider, actually.

    https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread....hlight=Stinger
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •