Hi Troops! Got mys Kit last Saturday, but have been mulling over which frame to build for weeks. Decided to go with the default design with a couple of mods…
First off, the supplied design was pretty foolproof, and went together as described. Kudos to all that contributed to this… see the very small pile of scraps… no waste here! Good job, gang!
Adding the wheels requires two more 2x4’s, and 4 casters… I got my wheels at HD for about $7 each… They are lockable, which is probably a good idea, although by the time this baby is all decked out, it must weigh North of 250 lbs… doesn’t exactly drift around the shop. If you think you want wheels, do it while building the frame, as adding them later would be more challenging for sure. Whether you do the wheels or not, it is a good idea to cast a line across the bottoms of the feet and cut to get the full ends of the legs flat on the floor instead of just the lumber end corners… You can see the corner scrap on the floor next to the close up view… taking that off the bottoms of the four legs is all it takes to get flat feet!
I decided to add a skirt on the bottom of the frame to enable CNC cutting all the way to the bottom of 4x8 sheets… saw this idea on the 80/60 design (thanks, Bee!). The 2x4 ends that form the support for the work-pieces are the key to the simplicity of the default design, but get in the way of the sled at the bottom corners. My modification makes the skirt addition the base for holding the work-pieces. Since I might want to add skirts to the sides of the frame, the front 2x4 I added for the wheels is 10’ long… this will help support those wings should I decide to do this in the future. Here is a shot of the completed machine with the temporary sled…
Note the the default Maslow with the my 3" wheels is 10’ wide x 7’ high x 33" deep, so it will go through a garage door, maybe, and most other doors, not so much. But being able to move the machine is essential for me, as every project in my shop requires moving stuff around. Also, when loading a 3/4" sheet of ply on the Maslow, being able to change the position of the machine can be pretty helpful.
Just completed the calibration today. Having a blast, but not sleeping much.
Well done. I love how it came out. Now that the weather has turned in my area I plan to test a few projects I’m putting together. Maybe I’ll try flattening my feet too. Good Job.
I have not been able to fire it up, as I thought I could use a punch to get the new chain I purchased to the correct lengths (13’) for the wider beam. Using the punch didn’t work for me, so I ordered the chain breaking/chain assembly tool that was suggested by the chain seller. I got new chain, as the kit chains were not matching lengths… hopefully getting both sides from one longer piece of chain will assure this.
where did you get a 12’ long piece of Unistrut super strut metal channel? local hardware stores only stock 10’ where I am at. I know you can join piecese together using their nuts and plates. Also one can get 2x2 tube with 3/16" walls to slip over the ends. by overlapping the tubes a little it makes for a much stronger assembly.
2x 6.5’ unistrut (tall) joined end to end with 5’ of thin unistrut,
the thin strut is thru-bolted at 6 points and a 4 bolt flat plate bolted at the joint itself on the opposite side.
The result is a firm 13’ beam with no flex or sag, albeit a little heavier than I’d prefer, but no problem to lift and set.
I’ve also developed a sliding extension system for the main beam supports marked for 6, 12, and 18mm depths, offset to compensate for spoilboard depth, chain height from sled and motor sprocket location.
I’m adding a meter of chain to the (sled side of) stock chain lengths to give me enough length to reach side to side with the new beam length, but final machine dimensions put the sprockets at ~12.5’, and workpiece approx 30" below the beam. ie: idealized dimensions…
I’ll add some pictures later in the week to my old unistrut build thread, but incremental construction continues.
Like @mrdugu, I pieced together 2 pieces of Super Strut. I am reserving the addition of a Super Strut scrap at the seam, as what I have done so far is pretty solid.
@Dustcloud , your Maslow, with the SuperStrut on top looks great!
I currently plan to basically duplicate what you’ve done (except for the back legs - I’ll hinge mine on the wall).
I was going to go 26" above the top of the work material, and 12’ between drive sprockets… Do you think there is much value in going up to 30" above and 13’ span?
Also thanks for the lesson learned about having a chain breaker on-hand…I’ll pick one up along with my split links.
There is a spreadsheet that calculates the impact of changes in these dimensions on chain forces,…
I need to be able to get the machine out of my shop, so my maximum machine height is about 95”. Not knowing what I will need to do exactly regarding slack chain management, I only raised the bar about 6”, which I think puts the workpiece at about 24” below the motor sprocket centers.
I have not done any testing yet… this next Thursday I hope to be back at it.
