Outfeed Trays

[saylesj]

Has anybody come up with a way to extend the outfeed trays on your carvewright machine? I have my machine mounted on a small tool cart but I do most of my carvings in a shop with a slanted floor, so that makes adjusting any sort of external rollers quite challenging, so I am looking for something more permanent that can be attached to the machine so they stay on the same plane as each other.

Any ideas and/or photos would be greatly appreciated

[Digitalwoodshop]

Mount the extended arms with hinges to the back side of your CART...

AL

[200k]

I have a custom made rolling stand for my CW so I can store all the bits, the rotary jig, and some tools in one spot and still move it around the my shop which has a high premium on usable space. The CW machine is screwed to the top with four 3” woodscrews. The doors on the front open up to three shelves of storage. I made the outfeed extending rollers when I had to carve a couple of very heavy 8’ long pieces of 2 x 12 Glue-Lam for my custom workbench. The outfeed frame is made from maple and the rollers are simply some 5 dollar rolling pins. I even used the axles. The top braces are two pieces with a ¼” threaded rod connecting them so I could fine adjust the height of the rollers. The whole apparatus comes off with four ¼” clevis pins for each side. I rarely take them off but I do pull the bottom pins so I can fold the roller braces up against the machine to save space when I am storing it in the corner. I have the two casters on the front legs so all I have to move it is tilt it onto the wheels and roll it. Otherwise it rests on four screw-adjustable pads/feet. This lets me adjust it easily and make it solid on my uneven concrete floor.

I don’t have plans for the stand. I just took some measurements off the machine and calculated the height I wanted and just built it from 2 x4s and Masonite (side panels). It’s the same with the outfeed extensions. I drew the rudimentary full-size plans on a big torn off piece from my big roll of brown paper that I use to protect the benchtop when I paint. As I remember it the only restrictions I had were the length of the maple planks I had on hand and the length of the rolling pins. I hope this gives you some ideas.

[200k]

Just a couple more images showing the extensions folded and the small corner full of stuff I have to store it.

Also I have a couple of unique details that make loading the machine much easier. One is the hole in the stand to store the 5mm Allen wrench. This make it always available but never in the way. The second is a hemostat with the jaws covered with 2 layers of wire shrink wrap. This is to insert the bits into the chuck. This is particularly handy when installing the 1/8” cutting bit. That little bugger is SHARP and I regularly sliced my fingertips trying to slide it gently into the CarveTight chuck. Now I just hold the bits with the hemostat and they firmly and positively slide into place. No cuts!

[RogerB]

OK so this is a must.Great job .Its on my list of upgrades for sure. Nice stand.Well done .

[DickB]

If you have the room a simple table made from 1 x 4 lumber can be made to work well. It doesn't fold but is really easy to make. I found the machine's roller height adjustment very touchy so I added my own that are much less sensitive.

[ktjwilliams]

I'll stay with my portable rollers ... If I had more room these are great ideas ...

[aokweld101]

I am going to have to make my shop bigger I have to many tools, my shop is 20' x 46' and I've outgrown it I all ready have my foundation in I just have to buy the wood for the expansion.. been wanting to make it bigger for years. the addition is 10' x 24' the shop is bigger than my house so you know where I live... is mainly in the shop... LOL

[Icutone2]

A lot of room is a great thing, but I found that the rollers can be 1/16" lower than the table support and the rollers with the wright pressure allow the wood to track as it was level . With no prob. Have run up to 8 foot pieces without stopping. Remember the weight of the wood will very as how long you can use.
Lee

[200k]

Remember the machine manual has a CAUTION about maximum workpiece weight. It's 20 lbs. Even if you are able to keep a long workpiece level and supported through the entire carve, there are little plastic gears moving the x-axis that can skip or fracture if they are required to move too large a mass - no matter how long or short it may be.