Bench design - XXL - exact dimensions?

[ururk]

I have a few quick (hopefully!) questions about building a base for an XXL that I ordered. This will be my first CNC, though I have been able to use one in the past and have experience with 3D printing.

I have a 24" (w) x 22" (d) x 29.5" (h) metal cabinet. It looks like it came off a lab bench. It has holes in the top to attach a top to, and feels sturdy. Three questions:

1) If I make a 48" x 48" top, it will overhang 12" and 13" all around the base. Does this seem reasonable, or will there be too much "flex" in the top? Should I support the top closer to the edges? I'm mostly concerned that as the router moves left and right the top could sway.

2) Do I need a torsion box for the Shapeoko to sit on, or would a stiff, flat box made of LSL's and 1/2" MDF be sufficient? I'm thinking I'd use screws to join the LSLs to the MDF, rather than glue so I could take it apart. This is mostly to get it going, but won't be a permanent home. I'm guessing about $75 for the top (4 LSL's and two 4x4 sheets of OSB). This is kind of what I was thinking:

Table v2.jpg (82.45 KiB) Viewed 2790 times

3) Finally, if I wanted to make the top as small as possible - what dimensions would I make it? The online store shows dimensions of 44.75 x 40.25, but there is a little black box (control box?) on the side. If I do this, I'll screw the machine down with shock absorbing mounts.

Thanks!

[snapajap]

I made a bench yesterday out of 30" high 4x4 for the legs. Then I cut 45" 2x4 and screwed that to the 4x4's toward the top and bottom. The half a sheet of decent plywood. Rock solid and the perfect size. The base cost me $38 at home depot and the top was $49. It took less than an hour to build and will last for ever. It's not pretty at all, but what ever.

[WillAdams]

Not sure how I missed this post. From: http://www.shapeoko.com/wiki/index.php/ ... 3#Overview

XXL: 45”W x 40-1/2”L x 16”H --- from: http://carbide3d.com/shapeoko/

We'll have to work up some sort of annotated / dimensional drawing.