My shiny new OB Minimill is all wired up and moving. I have to say, I love the xPro board and EstlCAM. (Aside from the fact that EstlCAM won't work over bluetooth so I still need an eight-foot USB cable to connect my PC to the mill.) Questions: 1. What material are y'all using for the spoil board? 2. What dimensions should the spoil board be in order to get the maximum usable area? 3. How are you securing the workpiece to the spoil board? Also, to the OB team: it'd be nice if the carriage plates were slightly thicker, or the end plates slightly shorter. That would allow the spoil board to move over the end plates. As it is, I think I'll make one board the size of the X-axis carriage plate, and another, larger one to sit on top of that. Cheers
I actually did just that. https://openbuilds.com/threads/openbuilds-minimill.9301/page-5#post-60083 (I used screws to hold aluminum, double sided tape to hold wood.)
It is common for people to raise the permanent base board with spacers, temporarily fit the waistboard to that, then drill countersunk holes to take bolts into the baseboard. Your next job would be to make a nice little program to drill holes, at whatever distance you prefer, to accept Tee nut inserts from beneath. Then use clamps, of which there are many different types available.
Cool - thanks for the link. What feeds & speeds are you using for cutting AL? I need to cut some parts from 1/2" plate. Using the Bosch router at the moment; but I have a crappy, much-slower spindle sitting here that may work better. (But, of course, I'll need to make a mount for it that's compatible with the Z plate.)
With my Makita at about 12000 rpm and a 3/32" 2-flute bit, I use about 760 mm/min (a bit less for ramping).
