Don’t mean to resurrect an old thread, but now that LR4 has been released will this table still work for that? The conduit on the rails looks really tight as it is.
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If you don’t have the table with the superstrut, don’t build it I guess. The “normal” table should work well.
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That was the alternative. I’m asking because I’m also going to incorporate a panel saw into the same table and the Unistrut would work really well for that part of the build.
EDIT: I could pull all the drawings into CAD, but figured someone might have an answer already.
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Just now seeing this. Sorry, don’t know how I missed it before.
I’ve modeled up some table extenders for using my “unistrut” based table with LR4 as I used it with LR3.
The only testing I’ve done so far is hook belt from front to back, and tension it very tightly to check for flexing. I think it may well be workable. However, I want to actually connect a LowRider v4 to it, and so some test cutting, to check for dimensional accuracy and cut quality. I’d like to do that testing before offering it up. More soon.
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What is the advantage of having the rial and belt off the side of table
You can load wood easier from the side but lose a lot of rigidity, so it’s not really recommended.
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Note that this is a non-standard thing. As per the “follow the Yellow Brick Road” thread, it is suggested to build as per the standard design first, before venturing off into Modification Land.
Note also that the LR4 does not currently support this approach (Several LR3 builders have repositioned their non-rail side belts, though).
However, to answer your question, some users prefer to have the non-rail side belt lowered to the side of the table, so that they can load material onto the table without removing the belt., or to be able to use the table for other purposes without removing the belt and belt holder.
I don’t know of anyone who has lowered the Y rail to the side of the table. AFAIK, I am the only one currently running an LR3 with both the rail side and the non-rail side belts at the side of the table.
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cheers for reply , i def be sticking to the standard design ( if it aint broke dont fix it )
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loading from side just dosent make sense to me and sound like hard work lifting over things instead of just sliding material from end . home point front corner so id always load from there, i def wont be lifting 3m + slabs over side of my table , hey but each to their own
For the LR3, I ran both belts hidden in the struts. My machine is only 30" cutting area, so I had the rigidity to spare. However, there are several things that need to be tweaked to get good performance. You can’t see the belts (not a problem for those mounting them externally on the side of the table), so problems related to over- or under- tensioning can be a little harder to work out (a lot of strumming to compare to how they performed on my flat sheet.) It’s less rigid, and it’s a lot harder to remove the machine from the table. The clearance is really close, and it took me over a month before I felt like I had solved all the rubbing from my modified parts. All this because I wanted to “protect” the belt from my own clumsiness. I did eventually feel like I got good-enough performance, but I definitely saw some sacrifices as well.
I don’t plan on hiding my LR4 belts. I’ll just be careful when using the table or loading material. My current plan is not to solve this problem unless it actually does become a problem. I’m looking forward to the rigidity and benefits of the LR4 design.
that’s what i was thinking , i just couldn’t see how it could have any advantages , and def thought it would cause rigidly issues
Depends entirely on your room layout. For mine, I can’t access the ends easily, but have good access to one side. So it makes sense for me. For that reason (and others) I also changed the programming to be Landscape instead of Portrait (XMin YMin is now where XMin YMax is on a normal build).
Plus it is easier (IMO) to slide the narrow edge of a 4’x8’ sheet onto the long side of the table (as long as the belts aren’t in the way) and rotate it, than it is to try and finesse it between the narrow confines of the machine (rail, belts, plates, gantry, etc.) without hitting the machine itself. YMMV
closing old topic to help fight spambots