Very nice Kelly. I and my CNC are both impressed and jealous all at the same time (remember, don't humanize machines, they hate that... ) What will be your clearance underneath the dust collector? Optimized for 2" foam?
I will have somewhere between 10 & 12" under spindle and Z travel, and that dust shoe is adjustable in height from 0 to 10". For machining hard materials, like hard plastics and aluminum, I'll either raise the cutting surface or install a platform that does same and allows the Z axis to be (near) fully retracted and at its stiffest, thus, the reason to be able to raise the stationary Z dust shoe that high. Make sense? A lot of people dont get purpose of the stationary Z dust shoe. If you primarily machine plate/board stock of uniform height, there's no reason for the dust shoe to travel with the Z axis. In fact, you are better off because the skirt/brush clearance can be set at an optimal height, and then the cutter just plunges in/out of the the stock and shoe as the whole shebang sweeps motion in the X & Y. If you have a 3D surface that varies significantly in height, you need a shoe/brush that travels with the Z for more effective chip collection. Best, Kelly
