There has been a variety of table designs to pop up within our community as each LongMill owner works to set up their machine to suit their cutting needs. Your table design will largely depend on how you plan on using your machine and your space constraints A big space can mean a big table, meanwhile, a small space might require a folding or retractable table. Knowing where you want your wires to run as well as drawers or shelves for storage, accessories, and your computer can all help make your final layout that much better.
On this page, we consolidated the most unique designs so that you can gain inspiration for your own table build by seeing what’s worked for others before you. Each example will link to the original post where the table was shown off so that you can readily follow up with the original table designers if you’d like to inquire about their design further.
Community Table Builds
Simple Table Design
When beginning to prepare for the arrival of their machines: Kris, Mike, and many others started out with a simple table design that would be dedicated to holding their LongMill rigidly at a good, working height. There are many approaches to this, the one pictured was done by Mike:
Original post: https://forum.sienci.com/t/what-are-your-plans-for-a-table/95/13
Similar post: https://www.facebook.com/groups/mill.one/permalink/857817714689561/
Threaded Insert Wasteboard
A cheap and straight forward mounting concept, shown off on our forums by both Mike and Frank. By starting with a simple sheet of MDF and running a drilling and boring operation on that sheet using the LongMill, threaded inserts can be hammered into the sheet to form a mounting hole pattern for clamps and jigs which can be placed repeatably:
Original posts:
- https://forum.sienci.com/t/spoilboard-project/236
- https://forum.sienci.com/t/wasteboard-proof-of-concept/753/6
Dovetail-track Wasteboard (Dean)
Dean took a similar approach to the threaded-insert setup by starting with a simple sheet of MDF, however he used a dovetail cutting bit to create a dovetail profile in the board in a cross-hatching design instead. This enables him to use special dovetail nuts as free-moving mounting points for his clamping hardware:
Original post: https://forum.sienci.com/t/what-are-your-plans-for-a-table/95/43
T-track Wasteboard (Keith)
Keith is one of our Beta testers who made a really cool T-track wasteboard design for his LongMill Beta unit. By spacing 7 t-track slots between 6 MDF strips, he’s able create a surface which is both consumable but also easy to mount to when using t-track clamps or other t-track compatible mounting hardware. The ¾” thick MDF strips were approximately 5.25” wide by 36” long for his particular setup:
Original post: https://www.facebook.com/groups/mill.one/permalink/584763838661618/
Similar post: https://forum.sienci.com/t/LongMill-up-and-running/187
Full T-track Tables
Many community members have combined the concept of the simple table design and Keith’s T-track wasteboard concept into a single unit. The resulting designs by Dave and John were well documented for future users to follow, and are shown below respectively:
Original posts:
- https://www.facebook.com/groups/mill.one/permalink/767608623710471/
- https://www.facebook.com/groups/mill.one/permalink/807686936369306/
- https://www.thissmarthouse.net/sienci-LongMill-our-first-cnc/
Drawer Storage
Another widespread concept is the idea to add pull-out drawers to the underside of the table in order to act as storage for the control box, a tethered laptop, or any of the dedicated tools or cutting bits used for the LongMill. The designs shown were done by Derek and Robert respectively:
Original posts:
- https://forum.sienci.com/t/what-are-your-plans-for-a-table/95/18
- https://forum.sienci.com/t/what-are-your-plans-for-a-table/95/63
Similar posts:
- https://forum.sienci.com/t/waste-board-with-t-slots/225/2
- https://www.facebook.com/groups/mill.one/permalink/900949107043088/
Under-table Table (Joseph)
Joseph was very limited on space in his shop so he instead opted to place his LongMill underneath his workbench. Enhancing this layout with outfeeding and under-lighting certainly makes the best of a shop which was already short on space:
Original post: https://www.facebook.com/groups/mill.one/permalink/842211146250218/
End Grain Cutout (Greg)
Greg had been commissioned some work and realized how beneficial it would be to orient any given board stock vertically so that he’d be able to machine the end grain. This especially comes in handy when using the LongMill to create CNC joinery. He modified his existing table to have a cutout portion for attaching boards, while maintaining the remaining surface for normal cutting (as he explains in his post):
Original post: https://forum.sienci.com/t/modification-for-end-of-board-machining-end-grain/235
Pivoting Table (Kris)
Kris never mentioned much about his design, however it’s really well laid out to orient the LongMill horizontally when attaching stock material or running the machine, while enabling him to rotate everything out of the way so that he can have more space to work in his shop when he needs it. The additional shelving is also useful for added storage and to act as an additional work surface:
Original post: https://forum.sienci.com/t/what-are-your-plans-for-a-table/95/49
Space-saving Lifter Table (Philip)
Another great concept for space saving came from Philip, who managed to claim the ‘air rights’ in his two-car garage so that he could hoist his LongMill out of the way when not in use. When lowered, the shelf clamps onto his rolling workbench to give it the necessary stability while cutting:
Original post: https://forum.sienci.com/t/what-are-your-plans-for-a-table/95/60
Machine Enclosure
Adding an enclosure to your CNC is a great way to reduce noise and dust in the shop. Here we are lucky to have Dave, Charles, and Paul show off their designs. They stuck to using readily accessible materials while ensuring a good view of their machine while in operation, sound dampening, and a great lighting setup. Charles has a well laid out guide on our community forum and Dave has made a video where he outlines the entire building process behind his enclosure:
Dave’s video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxiLNjUlw3c
Charles’ guide – https://forum.sienci.com/t/custom-cover-for-LongMill-mk2-30×48/10423
Paul’s post – https://www.facebook.com/groups/mill.one/permalink/835391973598802/
Other Modifications
There are even more great modifications that can be made to your CNC table to improve its usability and the usability of the machine itself. To see the full list of current modifications ranging from David’s dust collection hose boom and switching box, to Philip’s 3D printable laser diode centre-point locator, click the link here: https://resources.sienci.com/view/lm-open-source-and-modifications/