Long material jig

I am pretty sure I have seen someone else do this elsewhere on the forum, but I cannot locate the thread so here is my version with credits to (I believe) Mark, Eric and David. Apologies if I missed anyone.

I still can't figure out how to link directly to a G+ post so you can either follow this link to my posts or go to the HB Hangout.

My goal was to have a jig I can feed 12" by ?? material, up to 3/4" thick, into and (mostly) make small parts. I buy 12" wide pieces of plastic off ebay, it is easy enough to feed them in, clamp, set X/Y zero by hand and Z-zero with my new Z-plate and then make the cut. I did not attempt to incorporate an indexing feature, but it is something I can add on when needed.

In my last attempt to post photos here I had issues with them being oversized, if I can figure out how to do it I will post photos and text to this thread. If anyone has any comments/suggestions please feel free.

Thanks,

RMW

Are you talking about this video:

[www.youtube.com]

You can make things that are taller than 8", and wider if I understand what you're after...

Eric,

Not that video, I have the large material jigs and upgraded the HB to the new base. So far I have not used the jigs, most of what I cut are small parts but that will change someday. My constraint is shop size, I have a 10' by 12' shop and no garage or other spaces to store materials or machines. Everything has to fit in there so I guard space jealousy & clutter/disorganization make me nuts. Instead of large stationary machines I have the Festool system and use knock-down tables when necessary, I have plenty of deck space to expand onto in good weather.

My goal was to have a jig that allowed me to feed the material in and clamp it without needing to move the HB itself, this jig accomplished that. I believe you have a similar jig and I think I first saw in on a video or photos from ShopBot themselves. I was not aiming for anything larger than 8" on the Y, but because McMaster and others sell HDPE/UHMW and other materials in 12" increments I made sure I had 12" + on the Y to accommodate the sheets without cutting them. They will look like swiss cheese when I am done.

I may end up adding indexing on the X so I can tile longer designs, but the Y will still be limited to 8".

PS - thanks for posting your ideas here and on your blog, I follow both.

RMW

Ok, I see what you're saying... How about a sliding jig like this:

[www.sketchthis.net]

Yep, that's basically the same thing, but mine uses the manual locking feature...

I saw that video, really cool the way you created the scripts. And about 12 levels over my head, I am still getting used to the location of the power switch!

RMW

The scripts are super easy. The one I used for that project was only 4 lines. All it does is call separate toolpath files that I saved out. Take a look at the code that's in the download...

It literally has "FP (filename.sbp)" FP is what you hit to load a file. The filename is just the name of the toolpath, so if you wanted to call a bunch in a row, you could just have a bunch of FP's in a row.

You can insert pauses to, like one that will ask you to hit the green button, so if you had one cut, and then you need a pause as a reminder to release or lock clamps you could do that.