Positioning "new" shopbot in my shop

[chipster]

I will be successfully joining the ranks of the Shopbotting community within the next several weeks. I will be the proud owner of a slightly used 96x60 PRT, and I'm planning it's home in my shop.

One of the best locations that I've identified puts the bot at a 45 degree angle along one of my walls, with the 96,60 corner at or near the wall. I've read that 36" is typiaclly reccomended for clearance, but how critical will that be at that corner? I can leave some additional space if required, but keeping it tight maximizes everything.

Thanks in advance.

[myxpykalix]

The design in my shop is tight, not by design, but by happenstance. The walls for some reason seem like they are moving in closer and closer!

I find that i am constantly moving around the table pushing material, clamping things and my recommendation is that you allow yourself at least the width of your body space around the whole perimeter. I can barely "schooch" by sideways and i find myself having to crawl around and try to get in and out of positions that seem harder and harder these days.

You will find out after you get your bot the importance of having the space i promise. Good luck!

[chipster]

Thanks Jack. I guess I'll leave that one corner out a ways, but doubt it will be out a body's width (my shop isn't big enough these days to allow that!).

[curtiss]

You will probably have more/ the most dust at the 0,0 end of the table.

If you put your Shopbot control box under the table, move it down about halfway which will keep it quite a bit cleaner.

Of course I learned this the hard way...

[beacon14]

As long as you have clearance at the other end to slide full sheets on and off, and can access the machine from all sides, you should be OK. You may end up wishing you could move between the wall and the corner of the machine at that corner but if you have to you can always walk all the way around.