Tormach LLC - Personal CNC Machines, CNC Tools and CNC Accessories

This particular design integrates two engineering concepts, a bonded skin and post & beam. There is a thin skin of plywood bonded to every structural member. The plywood skin creates excellent rigidity, there is no racking or twisting. The post and beam construction comes from the fact that all joints between structural members are in compression. There is no structural joint subject to tension or shear, only compression. Construction starts with the some structural members bonded to the plywood skins. Each of the boards is glued and stapled or screwed to the plywood.

With the front and back skins bonded, they can be assembled with the cross beams.
The wings and some joint fillers are added, as are the side panels. There are 4 cross beams in the central area. These are positioned to go directly under the machine.
After the final skin is put on, the finishing work can begin. The key to a good finish is completely filling the grain and joints in the plywood. Apply a skim coat of auto body filler everywhere. Put a good amount of auto body filler in all inside corners and radius the corners smooth. This will make the tray much easier to clean out, with no corners to have chips getting stuck in. Be prepared to spend some time on finishing. Sand down the plastic putty and apply again where you missed the grain.
If the finishing is done right you will see no wood grain after you apply a primer coat. If you can still see wood grain in spots just sand it down a bit and apply more auto body filler. A coat of epoxy or polyester resin on the inside surface of the tray will keep it waterproof. Include a thin layer of fiberglass cloth in the resin and it will also be abrasion resistant. Most lumberyards sell aluminum U channel designed to be used as edging on plywood. This makes a nice finishing touch and prevents abrasion on the plywood edge.

Most people who see a stand made using this method are surprised to learn that it's a wooden construction. When properly made, the only way to tell is to look inside, or note that the surface is warm to the touch. The slots on the bottom are for a pallet jack or lift truck. Drawings and more detailed notes are available in our document library, in the file TD_DIY_StandDrawings.zip. The stand was designed for the preproduction model of the PCNC 1100 and some dimensions have changed. It will be worthwhile to compare the footprint to the current PCNC 1100 footprint, file PCNC base dimensions.pdf in the document library. We would appreciate any design notes and photos for alternative solutions. Whether you build a wooden stand, a welded steel stand, or park it on a granite pedestal, always make certain that your setup is safe an secure. The safety of installation, configuration, and operation of any machine remains the responsibility of the machine owner.