These tables are a little shaky no doubt, but does that effect the cuts at all? I ran a bunch of test cuts the other night and the least amount of dross on 16G was at 220ipm but the table was pretty unstable during acceleration/deceleration and that pieces specifically ended up 3/8" longer than the test pieces at lower speeds (they all matched). Does the acc/dcc rate change with travel speed? Has anyone done anything to counter the movement?
I’m almost finished with a full shelf for the bottom constructed from angle iron and expanded metal. That might add some stability and weight to the bottom of the table. My other idea was to make a stand for each leg with a big foot print to get the wheels off the ground and the legs anchored. Maybe that’s not even needed though? Anyone try and get results that were worth while?
They do feel unstable. Its the casters. There’s only 2 that lock which for a shelf might not be bad but on a machine where a large percentage of the weight is moving back and forth its not great. So the casters only have 2 that lock and the swivel doesn’t lock on those so even though the wheels cant turn the whole thing can swing back and forth on the caster bearings. It would be better if the casters had wheel and swivel locks on all 4 wheels…also it would be easier to position if you move it.
Yeah, the rest of the machine seems fine. The shelf would eliminate any play in the legs if there was any and a little stand for each leg that supported the machine by the 2x2 leg instead of the letting the weight rest on the casters would take those out of the occasion. I just don’t know if it would even matter in the end with regards to cut quality.
I’ve found that thinner guage breeds instability because a) you’re going faster and b) it’s a lighter sheet of metal. Lately I’ve just been going slower with my cuts and using smaller tips (even down to 20A .6mm tips for 14 guage).
Maybe one day I’ll look to stabilize my table and lock it down, but for now going slower works for me.
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If i slow it down to where the table seems more steady, i get tons of dross. And a lot of it won’t chip off with a wire cup, i actually have to grind it off with a flap disk. Maybe I’ll try some .6 tips and 20a cuts, i just don’t want to start a whole new series of tests and wasted metal lol. Thanks for the input.
I hear ya there. I had this really detailed piece of 14 guage with little squares in there, and at 45A 120IPM the whole machine jiggled so much that it came out looking pretty rough. On a whim I pulled out some 20A tips and slowed it down to 40IPM and vioala it looked great. There was more dross than I wanted, but it wasn’t an unmanagable amount.
Eventually I’ll look at stabilizing the machine, but for now it needs to move around a lot.
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