Introduction & Overview (0:00-2:07)
0:00-2:06: “Hey, welcome back to another legacy training video. Today we’re gonna be actually producing one of our table fixtures, um, the basic tables that come with your machine range, but they usually are a, a base table, either a spoil board on table that comes with a vacuum grid table. So those are the three most common that we send with the machine based on what options you buy with your system. But right now we did talk about a t slot table back in our two day CNC operation videos, um, and we showed how we can apply parts to that slotted, um, t track surface using hardware and clamps. So this is an example of a t-slot table, an older one that I’ve been using. And we’re gonna be producing four of these that go along the entire length of the four by eight Maverick c NNC system. Um, so this can also be applied to the four by four table as well as the three by five table. And so this has the same hole pattern as the vacuum grid table that is attached to your base table right now, if that’s what you have as an option. And so we can detach our grid table and then bolt this down instead. And now we can apply again hardware and clamps to our parts to hold components right to the surface of this MDF. Now there’s the nice advantage of this is if you don’t have this already, right? ’cause this is what we’re making and we have the files provided for you guys, um, you can still use other fixtures to get your jobs done. For example, you can still use a spoil board table, uh, for your sheet processing, but if you, you’re doing smaller components or hardwood components, um, the vacuum table just won’t be able to hold certain size or certain materials. So, uh, you can obviously use, you know, wooden screws, um, double stick tape and there’s a variety of other options that you can attach to a spoil board surface, but they’re not the most efficient way of getting parts on and off this table. Um, if you’re not doing sheet processing is by far the most, uh, commonly used table fixture with our CNC customers, um, when using hardwood and smaller components on their CNC systems.”
File Access & Preparation (2:07-4:00)
2:07-4:00: “So we’re gonna show how we’re gonna make that today, um, out of an entire four by eight sheet. This will be done in a two stage process where we’ll have two separate programs, um, one to cut out the table sizes and whole patterns and the second to machine the actual t slots themselves. So let’s go take a look at the files, which you can download right below this video. We’re gonna check out those files and see what is there and give you an idea of what we’re gonna be to be producing on the drawing. So here on our CNC training page, you’re gonna be down here, um, right after the six episodes of the two days of training. We’re on our onboarding CNC projects and we’re going to, you’re watching this video right now, which is the table fixture ts o table, and you can click on download right here to download those project files. So let’s open these up and see what’s in here so you know what’s gonna happen so we can open up this folder. And so in here after downloading those files, um, let’s go to our project file for vetric. I’m just gonna open that up just so you can see what’s gonna take place. And so here’s our, our CAD drawing has everything, um, that we need to show the tool pass I’ve already created for you guys. And so what we’ve done is we’ve broken, we’ve broken this up into two separate programs and so that’s gonna happen to where we’re going to do the whole pattern and cut out the actual table sizes and then mount ’em to the base table and then we’re gonna machine the actual t slots after they’re amounted to the machine. And so this, this tool path and these last two, we can actually simulate that. You can see what this is gonna look like here, preview those tool paths. And so when you take these parts off the machine, you’re gonna have these four tables again with the whole pattern, um, and everything cut to size. So, um, you’ll be able to then mount that to the machine. So the XY zero, um, we’ll look at”
Setup for Cutting Table Sizes (4:00-6:35)
3:58-6:24: “So the XY zero, um, we’ll look at that in the job sheet is still gonna be set for the bottom left corner was easier on the top, but we’re gonna have to set it up twice, uh, for program one and then a second time for program number two. Okay, so that was the first program. The second program is after we’ve mounted it to the machine, the bottom left corner is still gonna be x, y, zero, and Z zero still gonna be the top, but then it’s going to use tool number two and three to rough out and machine the actual T slot tracks themselves. So if we go and preview those tool paths, you can see that’s what’s gonna take place. Okay? And so it’s a two stage process. Uh, let’s go take a look at those other files. Again, the G code files I’ve already saved out for you. So we go back to our folder here that we have downloaded, right? And so we were in here in the TRIC project file, but here’s the G code files. You can go in here and you can see there’s G code number one, which is again, the whole pattern in cutting out the table shapes and G code number two, which is actually cutting the T slots. Uh, so, uh, just like I mentioned, you’re gonna have to set up x, y, Z zero twice one for each one because the table is moving from a, let’s say a vacuum table fixture. And then we are removing all of those vacuum table fixtures, um, so that we can mount the tables to the base table. And so our Z zero is gonna change our XY zero is probably gonna shift just a small amount. So we’ll have to set up XY zero a second time before we, before we actually run G code number two. And I’ll show that here in the video. Uh, but if we look at our job sheet, um, you’re gonna see all these details. Um, so we have, uh, a four by eight sheet and I’m making ZR on the top x, y, Z on the bottom left corner. Um, and we’ll have to set that up twice, right? For program one and program number two, we’re gonna use three cutters in total. Um, program number one G code one is only gonna use tool oh one, which is a quarter inch up spiral cutter. And then program number two is gonna use, um, tool two and tool three, which is a three eights, uh, uh, spiral cutter and a five eights t slot cutter. So three cutters in total to make this entire table fixture itself. Uh, but we’ll have to again, do our setup process twice. So let’s go back to the machine. I’m just gonna act quick, quickly move this over to a flash drive. So I would copy all of these over, just copy them and then pop ’em onto a flash drive. Um, and then we’ll go back to the machine and we can load those and do the, finish the setup process to cut these tables out.”
Mounting and Preparing for T Slots (6:35-9:02)
6:36-7:26: “And so that way I can just push the sheet right up against those stops and lower those pits. So just like we saw on the job sheet, I’ve already gone through the steps of setting up x, y, Z zero. So the X Ys in the bottom left corner of the sheet and I made Z zero on the top surface using my smart tool touch pad. Uh, so x, y, Z is now good. I’ve also placed the cutter that we need for this first program, and that is a quarter inch up spiral and mill. And since it’s already in the spindle, it won’t need to do a tool change when we go to run the program. Uh, so now that we have the x, y, Z zero and cutters ready, if I finish the rest of the checklist, uh, for setting up a horizontal table pertaining to this job, uh, we can now run the program. Let’s see what it does.”
7:35-8:08: “Okay, we can now set this up for the second process. What we’ll need to do is finish cleaning this off, get all the debris and sawdust off of the components, and then we’ll actually need to take off the spoil board and vacuum tables themselves. And again, we’ve showed that in other videos, um, but it’s simply gonna have eight bolts per two foot by four foot table. And I’ll just take those out and set ’em aside, make sure the surfaces are clean. And then I’m going to rebolt this two, this two foot by three foot table surface right back onto our base table. So,”
8:23-9:02: “Okay, now that we have taken the vacuum tables off and attached these technically spoil board tables, um, that’s really what they are at this point. Um, they’re now secure to the base table all lined up ready for the second machining process. And so for this process, we’re gonna um, set up the x, y, Z zero again and make sure we have the right cutters in place. But the XY zero is gonna be this bottom left corner of the table with a Z zero on the top surface. So I’m gonna gonna do that really quick and then we’ll go over what cutters are used for the second process in just a moment as well. Now, one very important thing”
Running the T Slot Program (9:02-11:06)
9:00-9:55: “Now, one very important thing before you actually run the T track program itself is if you have the pin system, okay on your machine, these re these stopping pins for the sheet processing, those need to be removed before running this program or you run into a chance of the cutter running into those pins. Okay? So we don’t want that to happen. So let me show you how easy it is to detach those and set them aside and then afterwards we can reattach them back where we want them to be. So there’s three of these pins if you do have this, um, on your machine, and there’s gonna be two bolts on the top and two bolts on the side. Now the ones on the top adjust the pin, um, against the edge of our sheet and that’s already set in place where we want it to be. So the sheet, um, has a correct stop, however, these two adjust the height of the pin. And so these are the two that I’m going to disconnect completely.”
10:11-10:59: “Okay. And then I’m just gonna set this underneath on the frame, okay, outta the way so this doesn’t accidentally get caught on anything. Um, and now we have clearance here for our cutter to go beyond the edge, uh, for the T slot process itself. Uh, so this is already to go, I just need to repeat that for all three pins. So now that we’ve set up x, y, z zero in the bottom left corner with Z zero on the top, we have tool number two, which is a three eight spiral cutter to cut out the relief, um, sections of the slots of the actual T slots. And tool number three is the five eight T slot cutter. So we’re all set at least for machines. And now that we’ve removed our pins, we can safely run the program without the risk of running into anything around the perimeter of the tables. So let’s push go and see how she does.”
Final Steps & Conclusion (11:06-14:10)
11:17-11:40: “So with the TT tracks complete and everything cleaned off, we can reattach our pin stopping system. And so we’ll just bring in our screws just to get ’em started.”
11:48-12:06: “And again, this allows us to adjust the height. So if we want to, If we want to have that be a specific height, we can make it any height we want. Okay, I’m just gonna actually bring it down to the bottom for now and then tighten this in place.”
12:14-12:35: “Okay, with the TT track table now machined and already mounted on the machine, uh, you can easily attach hardware right to the surface, let’s say right there.”
12:45-14:10: “And then here’s some clamps and then we can easily get parts taken out, put back in, and then clamp down just like so. And we’re all done. Uh, these tables can now be, um, inter um, exchanged with the vacuum table at any time. Again, just a simple hole pattern to tie that down or take it off. And again, makes it really nice to be able to use hardware like even low pro clamps. Um, and, and others. There are lots of other options here in order to hold parts down to your T track systems. So I hope you enjoy making your own t slot tables. And again, it’s just a two step process. Follow the job sheets and the files that we have available ripe below this video. And if you have any questions, please let us know. We’ll see you guys in the next video.”
