Set up photos and vauum attachment

Discussion specifically about the Shark's bigger brother, the CNC Shark Pro

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hdtheater
Posts: 263
Joined: Mon Aug 23, 2010 8:14 am

Re: Set up photos and vauum attachment

Post by hdtheater »

tcooper wrote:Here are some photos of some of the setup solutions I've come up with for my Shark Pro.........

Troy

Troy, I love the functionality of your setup. Could you give me some idea about what kind of material you made your cart out of? Any special steps taken for rigidity of the frame?


Thanks,

Eric
Thanks,

-Eric

Facebook.com/inspireddesignstx

tcooper
Posts: 8
Joined: Fri Aug 13, 2010 1:48 am
Location: Minnesota

Re: Set up photos and vauum attachment

Post by tcooper »

Thanks Eric.

The cart is made from basic 2x4's, 2x6's, and 1/2" MDF panels. The main part of the cart is basically just a square box made from 2x4's and 2x6's that are just butt jointed and screwed together with 3-1/2" screws and use MDF panels for the top and bottom of the box.

Underneath the MDF on the top and bottom of the box there are some 2x4 cross members that were cut down to allow the 1/2" MDF panels to sit flush with the top of the box. The side panels are just 2x4 mitered frames that have been glued and pocket screwed together and are dadoed to allow the 1/2" MDF panel to recess flush with the top of the frame. The MDF is then screwed onto the 2x4 frames to tie the entire assembly together and add rigidity to the wing. The frames are then attached with several large hinges to the main cart.

The wings are held up by square 2x4 frames that are hinged vertically and attached to the main cart allowing them to be swung out to hold up the wings when in use and stored under the wings when they are down and not in use. The ends of each wing support have adjustable upper and lower legs that can be positioned to provide positive support from the ground all the way up to the wing so they are able to support a lot of weight and are very stable.

The ridity of the frame really comes from perfectly square cuts at the attachment points, and long screws. On my current setup I didn't glue any of the joints as I anticipated the possiblity of needing to make modifications and didn't want to deal with glued joints in that event. Even without any glue the cart is extreemely sturdy and holds the weight of the Shark without any problem. Gluing the joints would make it even stronger.

The cart does shake a little when the Shark is in operation but I don't you think you can completely avoid that in a mobile cart. One thing I still have to do is put locking casters on the cart which may further minimize the slight shaking.

Hopefully this helps...

Troy

Barguy
Posts: 21
Joined: Wed Aug 04, 2010 12:08 pm

Re: Set up photos and vauum attachment

Post by Barguy »

Excellent design! Thanks for posting.

Astrowood
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Nov 10, 2010 7:26 pm

Re: Set up photos and vauum attachment

Post by Astrowood »

I already have a mobile cart for mine and a big 240V Grizzly dust system so I had planned a slightly different system. An enclosure with the dust system connected but also a small compressed air tube that would be directed at the bit. The air would clear the chips and the vacuum would remove them. The system shown here with the big tube and brush is nice but I suspect it would have trouble with small bits, deep channels, and oily woods. I do a lot of cutting with oily woods and 1/8 spiral bits and it takes compressed air directly in the cut to clear the chips.

Jim N
Posts: 104
Joined: Fri Jul 30, 2010 3:45 pm

Re: Set up photos and vauum attachment

Post by Jim N »

Hi Troy-
I like the craft foam idea- My brushes are not working to well :cry:
How thick and how stiff are they? Any place in particular to buy them?
Jim

tcooper
Posts: 8
Joined: Fri Aug 13, 2010 1:48 am
Location: Minnesota

Re: Set up photos and vauum attachment

Post by tcooper »

Hi Jim,

The craft foam was purchased in standard size sheets roughly 8" x 10" is size and 1/8" thick at a Michaels craft store. Just about any craft store would carry them I think. It can be easily cut to create a custom dust boot in whatever configuration you may desire. We have laser cutting capabilities so we cut ours on our laser but you can also cut them with a straight edge and razor blade without any problem. It just takes a bit longer!

As for the stiffness of the bristles, that can be adjusted by how wide each bristle is cut and how deep the cut into the boot is. I experimented with a variety of cut configurations and have several boots that I use in different situations. Being able to quickly swap out different dust boots is another benefit of having the boot itself magnetically attach to the Z gantry.

I have had some issues with some of my thinner bristle configurations as they tend to want to get sucked up toward the vacuum port so I'm working on trying to figure out a way to minimize that on future designs.

Troy

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