How to support the Upper X Beam
Why does the Upper X Beam need support?
SmartBench needs to consistently clamp the material between the rollers of the Lower and Upper X Beams throughout the job.
Click here to learn more about material clamping technology, and why it is important.
A - Stock material
B - Spoilboard
C - Upper X Beam rollers
D - Lower X Beam rollers
Methods for supporting the Upper X Beam for larger stock material
If you have are processing a full size sheet of material, It's best to ensure at least one set of rollers (left or right of the upper beam) are in contact with the material surface.
Methods for supporting the Upper X Beam for small stock material
If an offcut sheet material is only just big enough to accommodate the job, both sets of the Upper X Beam rollers will move away from the surface of the material during machining.
In this case the Upper X Beam will not be supported, and the X Beam will no longer be fully clamped around the materials.
To support the Upper X Beam rollers throughout the job, ensure that there is always some supporting material that sits under the rollers, and extends a minimum of 70 mm from the job boundary along the Y axis.
You can achieve this by:
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Choosing a larger sheet of stock material.
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Adding support tracks around the stock.
Choose a larger stock material
If your stock material is thinner than the width of the upper beam rollers, ensure that the stock has an extra 70 mm of material either side of the job boundary, along the Y axis.
E: Cutting area
F: Minimum stock size
Add support tracks around the stock material
It is still possible to use the same stock material, provided it is used with additional pieces of support material. These additional pieces of support material will form tracks for the Upper X Beam rollers.
The thickness of the tracks must be at least the same as that of stock material, or up to 6mm thicker than stock material. The track material must be flat and hard to prevent the Upper X Beam rollers digging into it.
The length of the support material along the Y axis must be at least 70 mm longer than the stock material on both sides to continuously support the Upper X beam, and wide enough to accommodate the rollers.
G: Additional support material
H: Stock material
During set up, adjust the Upper X Beam rollers so that they run on the tracks.
