Shopsmith Forums

In a post a while back I discussed one of my new project which was the codex locking jewelry armoir. I ran in to a few technology snags which made it clear I needed better tooling to accomplish the locking mechanism. We needed a CNC and also a tilting axis router table. I have been arguing about the CNC router with my son for some time now. We have now built both and have them up and working. The CNC I admit was 99% my son but all the aluminum you see was cut out on my SS bandsaw as well as all the drilling. It did a fine job of cutting the aluminum once we built the speed reducer. Now the challenge is to learn the software which is so far not too intuitive for me. The tilting axis router table turned out to be fairly straightforward. It occurred to me that a router lift has generally two posts on which the router is raised and lowered with and that is exactly what the SS table trunion is. Using the adjustable stop collar gives it micrometer accuracy. I separated the table from the trunion and suspended it with the extension tubes and then made a plywood mount for the router motor. The fence is melamine and particle board. So far as we have tested it it performs really well. The only drawback would be realigning the table when the job is done. I have an extra table so I may just leave it separated. The setup time is pretty quick though. Probably less than ten minutes.
Paul

Paul,

Great looking projects. That's great how you used a table base to tilt the router.

What CNC software are you using? I've been using Vectric's VCarve Pro and more recently Aspire for my occasional projects. Be wary of CNCs, they can be as addictive to build/buy as Shopsmiths. I built a mid-sized one some years ago and about a month ago bought a desktop sized one that another guy had built.

Looks like some fine ingenuity there!

Chris

you youngsters, nice job!!!! Glad to see ya here

I assume that is his son in the first pix Bob.

Good ingenuity fer sure!!!!!!


Dual stepper/lead screw on the base slide? Hope they stay in sync!


P.S. Looks like a tilt arbor router setup to me!

JPG wrote:I assume that is his son in the first pix Bob.

Good ingenuity fer sure!!!!!!


Dual stepper/lead screw on the base slide? Hope they stay in sync!


P.S. Looks like a tilt arbor router setup to me!

what gets past you JPG??? Good job!!!! I went back to the original poster and it was MasonSailare2, I guess his son also, you are so astute

I love that router-motor clamp! Will definitely file that idea away in the ol' memory banks.

What's that stuff you're using for table connector tubes?

How did you deal with the trunnions tie bar? To me it looks like the router motor is right where the tie bar was

We are using 123d for initial drawings and then V Carve Pro. As far as keeping the twin lead screws in sync there are micro sensors at the end of travel which keeps them in sync and also automatically squares the gantry to the bed. The extension tubes on the SS are 1" chrome molly tubes. I left the black oxide coating on is all that is. Too lazy to polish it off. The router motor misses the trunion cross member by about 1/4 inch when at full vertical. Keep in mind the SS table is free floating and can be positioned anywhere over the plywood router platen and router. The router clamp I made on the SS and not the CNC. Just now figuring out the software to enable to start making parts. The router motor is also an experiment. We have been buying the PC router motors for the CNC and I also have one in my big router table but they are very pricey. I discovered that HF carries a 2 HP router with the round body and with coupon was 45 dollars. It seems to work very well. So far only drawback is that it runs at 28,000 RPM with no speed control. That can be fixed with a separate speed controller which I believe HF also sells if that becomes necessary. I don't plan on swinging any large bits on this router table but we will see. As usual the SS has shown its unlimited versatility.
Paul

masonsailor2 wrote:We are using 123d for initial drawings and then V Carve Pro. As far as keeping the twin lead screws in sync there are micro sensors at the end of travel which keeps them in sync and also automatically squares the gantry to the bed. The extension tubes on the SS are 1" chrome molly tubes. I left the black oxide coating on is all that is. Too lazy to polish it off. The router motor misses the trunion cross member by about 1/4 inch when at full vertical. Keep in mind the SS table is free floating and can be positioned anywhere over the plywood router platen and router. The router clamp I made on the SS and not the CNC. Just now figuring out the software to enable to start making parts. The router motor is also an experiment. We have been buying the PC router motors for the CNC and I also have one in my big router table but they are very pricey. I discovered that HF carries a 2 HP router with the round body and with coupon was 45 dollars. It seems to work very well. So far only drawback is that it runs at 28,000 RPM with no speed control. That can be fixed with a separate speed controller which I believe HF also sells if that becomes necessary. I don't plan on swinging any large bits on this router table but we will see. As usual the SS has shown its unlimited versatility.
Paul

Duh! Shows how deep my thinking was! Great projects!