Getting ready to pick up the steel. In determining final size I need to concern myself with moving it from the assembly area to its working area. The final bottleneck is 72 wide x 84 tall. I am looking to do a table that is 61 x 97. That makes it 78 wide for the base. 61 + 17 inches.

Now I can leave the gantry off and turn it on its side and move it in using the 84" height with 6" to spare.

My question, am I missing something that will add to the width>

Maybe the piano dollies you have it sitting on? (Don't ask how I know that one!)

Yup.
Need those.
Thanks.

It sounds like you are welding the cross members. Why not make those bolt on. Once the basic assembly is completed you could pull it apart and reassemble at the final location.

But...
But......
That would make sense.
Sheez.

Been thinking on the bolted concept.
My main usage for this is dovetailing my 45 deg corner drawers. The fixture for it will need to be incorporated and bolted on as well. Very doable.

I know I have the longest build in history and it's still not done, however one of the better decisions I made was to have the cross member support board holes drilled by a local machine shop. Now my cross members are 100% interchangeable and I don't have to number them to get them back in the same locations. I did the drilling myself on the long beams so if I take it down and move it, I would have to number them to get the support board back on without issue. In hindsight, I probably should have had that drilled by them as well but 1 out of 2 isn't bad. Good luck!

Famous last words.

We have a fair amount of history in making interchangeable parts. Proof will be in the pudding though.

Thanks for the input. Just how long have you been at it?

It's embarrassing to admit but I received my first parts in 2008. Quite a few years of no progress at all for various reasons but I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Gulp.

This bolted machine is making more sense. I can take the sub assemblies into my spray booth for finishing.

Question?
Has anyone used a metal cutting blade on a tablesaw to cut the angle on the rails?

Old woodworker habits die hard.

You have this special blades which supposedly work fairly ok. But's it's kind of a converting a knife to be a fork, it kinda works ( speed too high, torque too low etc)
I would ask a metal shop or buddy with a metal bandsaw or grind them by hand ( non critical angle anyways) If you use a piece of flat bar to guide your handheld angle grinder you'll be surprised how accurate you can cut.

I have the skate setup, just curious as I also have a large tablesaw.

Stop trying to re invent the wheel Pete.

I have a large tablesaw too Pete.
Stop trying to reinvent the wheel.

Echo in here.

misread in my haste, thought you were talking angle main beams. Yes use the grinder skate, or buy them. Nothing else really works as well.

JR, Myself and Gerald were the Guinea Pigs, use the skate as designed. Works beautifully. For best results, follow the grinding thread, but in short summary.

- cut to proper height with Narrow Kerf SS Grinding disk.
- use grinder disk to surface height prepare the FLAT surface first.
- use 36" grit sand disk on-top-of grind disk to knock down the majority of the chamfer 45 degree grind.
- finish with grinder disk for final passes.

Grinding skate . Check
Studying up on the wiring today. Any consensus as to which is best for the motors, uni polor or bi polor? Or does it depend more on the application?

Feb 1 the build starts. Clearing the schedule to allow for an initial week of uninterrupted time to get our heads around it. I'm driving Tony crazy with how we want to lay out the work.

If my build resume next week (or the week after that) I will break your record!

Started gathering stuffs since late 2007! :D

Spending for tools.
Just ordered the Evolution 15" chop saw.
I hope it works as good as the reviews claim.

Happy days are here.
 

Tony and I finally started in on the electrical today. Went well until we found the off switch was stuck closed.
I got the smoothstepper programmed into the computer.

It's a start.

Keep on keeping on! Give us a review of the Evolution when you've experienced it a bit.

Puzzled. When I programed in the ESS it assigned the Ethernet port to it so I can't use it for internet access.
Do I need to get a second ethernet port or is there a work around for this issue.

The Evo arrived yesterday. Looks solid and will try cutting with it today.

lube
 

We have a Northern Tools 14" dry cutter that we love. It's really amazing, both in the cut quality and ear ringing sound with thin gauge tube.

Good ear protection is a must and we find that daily application of "Castrol 140 Stick-Wax Metal Working Lubricant" to the blade helps keep the blade sharp and the cut a little quieter.

The blades seems to keep cutting well after loosing many teeth, that is until you change the blade and are blown away by that new blade performance. You'll never go back to abrasive again.

For the ESS ethernet issue under windows you might try opening the network adapter properties, then selecting TCP/IP properties (IPv4), then clicking on the "alternate configuration" tab. Either add the IP address settings you need for the ESS there or add your network connection settings for the internets.

You can also get a USB to Ethernet dongle for ~$20.

Cpac. Got a chance to use it today and WOW. Fast smooth cuts. Going to love it I think.

Yes, i figured out on a usb connection. Going to office max. Meanwhile I just set up a second computer for researching.

It's alive
 

Well we got it moving motors today.
Love the plug and play feature with the smoothstepper.
Here's a little video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qb-V0Qh3ycA

It may be time to switch to Construction Started.

Good job Pete.
Luckily there isn't a spot called: "It's about darned time Construction Started!" ��

HAHA. Hey Us older peeps take a little while. The clock has started.