When we bought our house, I added a second attached garage and insulated it as though it was part of the dwelling… so the temperature inside is a bit more stable than my 10x20 shed that sits close to what I call my shop. I still use a heater in the winter but summers usually fine with just an industrial fan (sometimes portable swamp cooler if I am not running a project on the CNC).
Item of note, I had always intended to mount the Harbor Freight portable dust collector under the table… but after measuring i found it is too tall for my ‘space’ under the table. Might fit if I remove the wheels and handle… I do have a few inches of space due to 4” casters so could make some sort of hanging platform below bottom rail … TBD.
My local builders merchant sells the 3/4 sheets with hex grip on one side smooth on the other for 60 bux and smooth on both sides for concrete forms is 50 bux. MDF is 20-30 by comparison but overall it’s still affordable.
Edit: They call the hex grip stuff ‘trailer board’ - I only learned they carried it by having a wander round their warehouse while waiting for them to cut down some other sheets to fit in the car.
My only issue with that nice flat composite would be when I surface. I’m sure that even with building the frame as flat as possible with the strut channel I will need to surface my spoil board strips.
before I swap the Jackpot board I received with my original purchase from October 2024 ( I believe I have the V1 Jackpot), what are your thoughts on upgrading to the newest V3 Jackpot (not concerned about the cost, more about functions or advantages)?
There are no real advantages. I think there is one more pin and one more thingamabob, but that‘s it and not needed for functioning. The JP3 was mainly developed to give even easier access to the LR, integrating all the external hardware (ESP, drivers) into the board itself.
Jackpot V1 is a fully capable controller and unless you have needs off the norm it won’t be a huge advance to go to Jackpot V3.
Cases where you might prefer V3 would be if you are running a FluidDial pendant, if you use an IO expander like the Airedale (and you don’t ), if you use a laser on your LR, or if you want to control VMOT peripherals with PWM. If not one of those, then no major benefit. The embedded TMC2209s are nice, and the thermals for these when the heat sinks are on are excellent.
Even with the Jackpot V3 release, the Jackpot V1 should stick around because it does have some use cases (removable ESP-32 allows for things like external antennas for metal enclosures, possibly some other future things given there’s a slot there for the processor…).
I appreciate the quick feedback. No plans on moving my laser head to the LR4 so unless the WebUI works better with the v3 board vs the v1 board, I suppose I will stick to what I have.
on an unrelated note, I just remembered I actually ordered a second V1 Jackpot as I had intended to replace the SKR controller on my MPCNC Primo… but I never did and now no longer have that machine… so I have an extra Jackpot to play with
A couple of things I like about the JP3 is the built in RJ11 and the ESP32 antenna is on the edge of the board so it extends outside the case. I think it gets better reception than the JP1.
), if you use a laser on your LR, or if you want to control VMOT peripherals with PWM. If not one of those, then no major benefit. The embedded TMC2209s are nice, and the thermals for these when the heat sinks are on are excellent.