Alright, I am finally getting around to adding some photos here. Here is my wall frame coming together. I used some dirty old MDF shelving to make my wasteboard. Two 24x96 inch pieces are easier to carry and install by myself in this tiny space, and it makes replacement easier as well.
Here the second half of the wasteboard is installed, and I am working on making it level. The frame itself is square and level, but my concrete floor is sloped. You can see the winbag in the first picture to help bring it up.
I used a Winbag inflatable device to pick up the left leg in order to make level before screwing the frame to the wall, and then I had to shim under the leg to make up the difference.
With the header leveled to the frame, I could finally hang and calibrate the sled. Ready to start cutting! Don’t ask me why I made my first cuts on the wasteboard.
Here is one of my first projects. I decided to make a stool to sit on at my workbench in front of the laptop, since I am going to be spending a lot of time with this machine.
Speed and depth were two big factors that I had a lot of struggles with in the beginning, along with dust control. Here is a picture of how those things can cause issues.
My cut was successful in terms of the shapes and dimensions, but between calibrations and thickness of material, I did not achieve a through cut, so I threw it on the workbench with the middle tabletop removed, and had to trim the pieces out by hand. I designed this bench a couple of years ago, with the top being convertible on purpose. It does come in handy when cutting through large materials.
This way I can lay the material on the worktable and cut through with the jigsaw and not worry about what is underneath.
I cut the pieces through with the jigsaw, and then with a whole lot of sanding and a bit of boring the mortises with the jigsaw and a dremel, I was able to assemble the stool.
I also made a quick mount high on the wall above the Maslow’s header board so that I can store the stool out of the way when I need the space to use my workbench for other things.
Pardon the mess, but this is what tiny shops are like in real life. My workbench (on locking casters) sits in the middle of the room and can be moved wherever I want it. My wall bench and extra bench at the end are all the same height so that I can span sheets of materials across however I may need. the MakerMade 2 sits on the west wall behind the workbench.
Here the workbench is in place to work on other things while the CNC works away with just a few inches of clearance. It’s tight, but it works!
