Calling all owners that have done mods to their machines, have extra large machines, or just an interesting use case that’s not “normal”.
We’d love to see some pictures of what you’ve got!
Here are the mods I’ve got. If anyone needs software or stls to replicate any of these I’m happy to help:
First I have a tool height setter. I added a button to mach 4 to automatically reset Z axis homing to the spoilboard for whatever bit I have loaded. For most of my work flows this gives me much easier and more repeatable tool changes than previously.
Next I wired up an ESP32. It uploads some data about the CNC to my mqtt server. This is mainly used to automatically turn on dust collection and turn it off again a fixed amount of time after I’m done cutting to help keep the air clear.
This one is a little harder to see. Basically it is a pen holder which uses a 50mm linear rail to keep the pen still in the x and y axis, but allow a little bit of motion in the z axis. The z travel lets me write on surfaces like fabric that aren’t completely flat. I also have magnets in there to reduce force of the weight of the pen. Without that many tip types would quickly get deformed.
Lastly I have the 5 watt OPT laser.
I’m currently experimenting with a vacuum hold down system, but I haven’t finished it yet. It’s a little weird that I seem to be spending more time making parts for the machine than I do making actual projects.
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The jury is still out on this — I mounted my tool forks sideways on the front to preserve work area.
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I think that is a good idea! It can still allow you to cut a full 8’ sheet on a 4x8.
Some of this I’ve posted before, but here’s a summary of my custom machine…
This is an Avid frame and moving parts, but with my own servos (salvage), custom servo drives, LinuxCNC, CNCDepot ATC spindle, laser, and a few other niceties. My setup is mirrored, though - the cable way is on the left (AVID - make this an official option please!
The Z carriage has a local air manifold for the ATC and laser, plus one spare. The laser uses Avid mechanicals but it’s a laser we already had before Avid started doing lasers. Note I had to make a bracket to move the laser away from the spindle and up so it doesn’t hit the tools in the tool rack (I still need to make a longer laser carriage so it can deploy further down). I used the extra space to mount a pen microscope.
A good shot of two of the servos (NEMA 34 160V) and one of the springs that offsets the weight of the Z carriage. They’re strong enough to keep the Z from dropping down when power is removed. They’re also one of the reasons I had to move the laser.
The ATC uses a fixed tool rack at the back of the machine, along with a toolsetter to measure the tools. The mounts are 3D printed so if anything goes wrong, they break first. It’s happened often enough that I put some foam insulation under them to catch them WHEN it fails.
This is the mess of custom electronics I still need to put in a box. Mains power comes in in the upper right, circuit breakers split it into four branches, contactors and power supplies (upper left) control everything. Big PSU in the middle is for the servos, spindle VFC in the far upper right. Middle left are the four servo drives. Center and lower right are the Mesa board, relays, and other stuff. Power switch center front.
This should be standard
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This is an automatic wire harness machine, which was customized to achieve unmanned production. Although it is still in the assembly stage.
So I’ve always intended to make a video of this but I never seem to make the time so I’ll just share these pictures and what I did…
These are just renderings but is EXACTLY what is on my Pro 4896 right night.
I reconfigured the framing slightly to mount a vertical spoil board that only took up 8" of my overall machiniable Y Axis becuase that seemed to be all that is neccessary if i’m just milling dovetails, mortises, ect… at the tail end of stock.
I bolted (20) pcs 3/4" x 2-1/2" steel bar (red oxide primed and shown here in RED) to all my cross members as a way to add weight (mass) to the stationary portions of my machine. This added approx 510 lbs.
I milled a TON of 2" x 2" x 1/4" aluminum extrusion using my AVID CNC to make all the interlocking cross bracing in both X & Y axis. As well as making a more robust sheet support at the bottom of my AVID leg kit to hold plywood. I forget how much wieght I added in aluminum but It was atleast another 100-200 lbs.
Everything was carfully modeled in fusion 360 to be pre drilled, interlocking, etc and bolted right up to the existing 8020 frame.
The end results were as follows:
I doubled the weight of my machine as well a made a marked imporvement on the overall stiffness of the base. I used to be able to “scoot” my machine over or just observe it “walk” itself out of position in my garage (I traced lines around the feet onto my concrete floor and saw that my machine had shifted up to 1/2" over the course of a couple years.) Now, regardless of acceleration and/or toolpath, I have not observed any shifting or shaking. Also, this machine is HEAVY! I told my wife were are going to grow old and die in our house because I don’t want to ever move this machine. 
I need to setup a tool setter in Mach4 but not really sure where to start. Have moved to cutting full sheets regularly, but have to zero off the spoilboard.
With an ATC? I did a bunch of stuff for Mach 4: Avid CNC ATC (Automatic Tool Changer) with Mach 4 – Corbin's Treehouse
Actually without ATC until I find a good location for my rapidchange. I’d Ideally like to be able to change the tool manually, then have it move to a location with a tool setter and probe and offset z, so I don’t have to have an open spot on my spoilboard to probe Z with the regular avid touch plate.
I talked about how I set it up in another thread.
https://forum.avidcnc.com/t/instructions-for-adding-toolsetter-for-mach-4/