Final dimensions for 8x4 (or 10x4?) cutting area

[Hal]

Hello,

I’ve ordered some 30mm tubing, and I’ll have to make at one rough cut at the store parking lot, since it’s 20 feet long! Which made me realize that I should decide on some final dimensions and source more table parts soon, especially since I like finding stuff cheap/second hand/free/reused from somewhere, which isn’t the fastest way to do things.

If I’ve understood things correctly, you want the X axis to be as short as possible for stability. I want to cut full sheets, so that means 4’ or 1220mm cutting area. I found this old comment from April 2021:

@jeffeb3

Yep, trust the calculator and put in about 50"x98" to have some wiggle room. It will end up about 9’x5’. Tyler’s type of table is great because it is easier to make an oversized frame and you only need a spoil board the size of the work area, or 4’x8’. Also, MDF can be found a bit bigger. I think there are sheets just 1" over and special places you can order 5’x10’ sheets.

Is the calculator the same as it was back then?

And also, when it comes to Y length, does that affect the CNC accuracy in any way? Sometimes (not often at all) I get access to some 10’ long sheets, although I’d probably do more than fine with an 8’ cutting area. However, if having 2’ longer Y axis doesn’t affect the accuracy in any negative way, then I might as well build it a bit bigger, as I’ve got space for it.

So should I go for something like 1250x2500mm for full sheet capacity? That would mean just 30mm extra X space, and 60mm extra Y space. Or something like 3100mm Y length if it doesn’t make much of a difference.

I’ll be using a Makita router.

[Tokoloshe (Philipp)]

The calculator is here: LowRider V4 Calculator - V1 Engineering Documentation

Just put in 1250x2500 and look at the values for the table below. It‘s still working well.

The length in Y is not that critical. The belts are longer, but they don‘t mind too much.