Access port through table?

I am trying to contemplate any tweaks I would want to make before pouring concrete and one I keep thinking about is a 2-3" diameter through hole somewhere on the table. Plugged when not in use.

It probably wouldn’t be a frequently used feature but it would be handy to be able to say pass an axle through and do machining on the end.

Thoughts?

3 Likes

I was thinking the same thing, A through hole for milling longer stock on end. This would help compensate for the z axis without affecting rigidity much. I was thinking 3-5" for myself.

1 Like

I like the idea! I was also planning to add some anchor points outside of the build plate

Larger might be better for sure. Big enough to be able to sink a cheap 5C collet chuck down into table for round stuff would be cool.

And anchor points outside the table is a neat idea. What kind of anchor were you thinking of?

I had asked about extending things off the table and outside the enclosure and it looks like it would require modifying the door surround panel due to height limitations.

I’ve done machining on the ends of long tubing in the past this way on other machinea and would like to have the capability on the MR1.

Might not be a bad idea, especially if considered using a rotary table or adding a 5th axis at some point. Could even be finished after the fact as long as the concrete and anchoring bolts were kept out of that area.

This is kinda what I had in mind. A low profile, manual or electronically controlled rotary turn table with a through hole.




1 Like

That’s a cool part and very low profile! A chuck and clamping up round parts makes a lot of sense to me.

A z-axis (C rotation) rotary wouldn’t strike me as super helpful though. Maybe you have an application in mind I hadn’t considered.

Like you said about a hole…probably wouldn’t be used often, like truing up an axle flange. How about resurfacing a brake rotor or a flywheel?

It wouldn’t be hard to mount a round t-slot plate or a lathe chuck and do some of the same things you can do on a horizontal lathe.

I came across other rotary tables but not as low profile.