# Biesse Rover A fire



## Jw.wheeler (Jun 22, 2021)

Hey guys new to the group. I have a Biesse Rover A.....which unfortunately one of my operators caught on fire. End up burning through the spoil board and melted about a 2'X2' place on the phenolic table. Have you guys ever had to repair a table? 17000 to replace ...with a two month lead time. Need to get her running until new table arrives. Any help or suggestions would be awesome.


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## difalkner (Jan 3, 2012)

Welcome to the forum! Photos always help.


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## old55 (Aug 11, 2013)

Welcome to the forum.


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## Jw.wheeler (Jun 22, 2021)

Jw.wheeler said:


> Hey guys new to the group. I have a Biesse Rover A.....which unfortunately one of my operators caught on fire. End up burning through the spoil board and melted about a 2'X2' place on the phenolic table. Have you guys ever had to repair a table? 17000 to replace ...with a two month lead time. Need to get her running until new table arrives. Any help or suggestions would be awesome.


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## TimPa (Jan 4, 2011)

i guess that you cold lay a sheet of LDF (or ???) over the top, and with some creative programming cut in a new channel grid with strategicly placed through-ports to the phenolic table below.


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## marecat3 (Nov 30, 2010)

welcome to the forum


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## UglySign (Nov 17, 2015)

Tim
Wasnt there someone on Camhead forum that had that problem and either epoxied or placed a new piece
of Phenolic and cut new channels to match? McMaster sells small pcs of phenolic $$$ that may work for repairs.

Corian??

LDF would get torn up after a while.



TimPa said:


> i guess that you cold lay a sheet of LDF (or ???) over the top, and with some creative programming cut in a new channel grid with strategicly placed through-ports to the phenolic table below.


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## sreilly (May 22, 2018)

Welcome aboard.


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## TimPa (Jan 4, 2011)

UglySign said:


> Tim
> Wasnt there someone on Camhead forum that had that problem and either epoxied or placed a new piece
> of Phenolic and cut new channels to match? McMaster sells small pcs of phenolic $$$ that may work for repairs.
> 
> ...


Here was a post on that subject... (good memory by the way!)
"epoxy mixed with System West 403 microfibre filler (strengthens the epoxy and thickens it). That will give an easy to use paste that will fill very nicely, and can be surfaced down flat again once it hardens. A 5 minute epoxy should be fine, unless its a larger area that needs more strength. If you want it to match, just mix a little black aniline dye powder to the mix. "


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## jharrigan07 (Aug 1, 2013)

Yikes. I am trying to find a YouTube video about building a vacuum table/spoil board three ways that would be right up your alley. It looks like the damage is across multiple zones on the Cnc. The issue I see is regardless of the fix (epoxy looking like the best), you don’t want the repair to cost more than the replacement.

if it were me, I would surface the existing surface and add a board on to utilize on a temporary/permanent basis. I will post when I find it.


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## Abu Ras (Apr 7, 2021)

Welcome and be more careful


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## Lemuzz (Jul 25, 2008)

Is it possible to cut the table across the width just clear of the damaged area. Then reverse the damaged piece and that may allow you to have the main working area undamaged and leaving the damaged area at the outside of the table


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## UglySign (Nov 17, 2015)

jharrigan07 said:


> Yikes. I am trying to find a YouTube video about building a vacuum table/spoil board three ways that would be right up your alley. It looks like the damage is across multiple zones on the Cnc. The issue I see is regardless of the fix (epoxy looking like the best), you don’t want the repair to cost more than the replacement.
> 
> if it were me, I would surface the existing surface and add a board on to utilize on a temporary/permanent basis. I will post when I find it.


The Phenolic is pretty pricey. How much could the expoy run to do the repair?
The manu should be able to provide the cut file for the top if they have it on file.
Either they can provide or you recreate it. Get the phenolic stuff and put it on top
of the damaged, somehow held in place and cut new grooves/holes to match below.
You have the damaged top to reference, no? So make your own.
Go down deep enough but not through so the Bolts would have to be cleared I'd assume.

From what I gather, phenolic/garolite smells horrible when cutting. Mixed w/ epoxy should be a doozie.
Luckily you'd have an insert spoilboard cutter as you maybe go through a couple of them.

A dirty fix is to cleanup whats above the surface then go in a cut new channels.
Some low areas may be able to accept small blocks of phenolic (epoxied) and brought to surface.
The L/MDF spoilboard isnt going to shape small missed areas. Just make sure you know
where to block off where the zones are

Apparently you have the skill to cut stuff, what's stopping you? Just doit and call it george.

Looks like a fun project.


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## DsKnees (Mar 4, 2021)

Jw.wheeler said:


> Hey guys new to the group. I have a Biesse Rover A.....which unfortunately one of my operators caught on fire. End up burning through the spoil board and melted about a 2'X2' place on the phenolic table. Have you guys ever had to repair a table? 17000 to replace ...with a two month lead time. Need to get her running until new table arrives. Any help or suggestions would be awesome.



I would suggest filling just the damaged area with an epoxy laminating resin (NOT casting resin) and re-cutting all the grooves.

Epoxy can be somewhat brittle without any reinforcement, so straight epoxy probably isn't a good idea. I would add some fillers in the form of milled fibers. I have found milled carbon fiber to be available and inexpensive. Fiberglass fibers are fine too if available, just heavier. Some people like to add "fumed silica", but that just add tiny air pockets to the epoxy and is intended to turn thin epoxy into a putty, so they don't add strength.

You can ask the seller for advice, but I would recommend a slow hardener. This is because the epoxy will be applied fairly thick. I would probably plan on doing multiple layers too. The problem with epoxy is it is exothermic, so it creates heat as it cures. And the thicker it is, the more heat it creates. But doing a couple layers and using a slow hardener should prevent any problems from coming up.

For the repair process, I would start by identifying the extent of the damage. Then I would build a temporary barrier around the affected area--including perimeter areas that may be warped. If there are holes through the bottom, for vacuum or from the fire, they need to be patched. too.

I would use strips of corrugated plastic sheet for the barrier. And hot glue should work to hold it in place. I have a 3M "high temperature" glue gun that works really well for this kind of thing...but be warned that not all glue guns are created equal! Also, expect to use a lot of glue, like a surprising amount. 

(I'm suspicious of the readily available glue gun options. I've seen lots of youtube videos where guys glue together resin molds using lower temp glue guns, only to have them leak. But in this situation, and if you add fibers to the resin, the fibers will thicken the resin, reducing the chance of epoxy leaking, even if there are gaps/ cold joints.)

Maybe that's more than you were looking for, but I it is totally doable. I'd personally be a lot more concerned about re-cutting the bed after the repair than with the repair itself.

I think a repair like this, if done well, would be good enough that you don't need to replace the phenolic.


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