OXcalculator - Bill of Material and Cost calculator v1b006 (xls + ods)

I was making my BoM, way after having started myOX, and figured I could go the extra mile (or is it just a kilometre ?) by making this calculator so all can get a fairly good estimate of parts and cost for their OX build.

Since it simply can't (for now at least) take into account all of the possible mutations of an OX, I had to settle on a reference OX : rOX. It is very close to most OXen (?) found around here as most stay within certain bounds, at least for their first OX. Even myOX is taken into account with the calculator (obviously).

The key difference of rOX and other typical OXen is how the working surface is attached. I came up with a simple mounting scheme. The board can either be beneath the rOX or on top. It is held in place with simple flat plates : one screw into the board and a couple with T-nuts into the outside of the base X. There is no blind aligning of T-nuts.

You, of course, are free to make your own mutation of the original OX, or the calculator's very similar rOX.

To use, you can start by giving only three basic numbers !

Specify the target X, Y and Z dimensions of the OX you want to build. All of the other parameters are optional, the defaults being ... average OX things.

Adjust the respective offset (varies with router, mounting bracket and typical tool length) for a proper estimate of the working area dimensions. The "Max Z travel" is typically fixed (mostly depends on height of the Y gantry plates) : it is the distance between the tool tip and the table surface when the Z axis is in its fully raised position. Standard OX configurations have Y gantry plates which leaves only about 120 mm of travel regardless of your Z axis length ... Where the myOX variation, with a bottomless (maybe topless, sounds sexier eh ?) work table, can maximize the use of your Z configuration by dropping way BELOW the table surface ! Of course, the precision will depend on the rigidity of your Z and the tool used.

That's it !

the OXCalculator now breaks down most of the sub assemblies so it tells you how many of each items your configuration needs AND how many packs for each needs to be ordered. Of course, you can specify the pack size along with the cost and get a fairly good shopping list (I hope).

There will be a few more tweaks and organizing of the various items within the version 1 builds of the OXCalculator. This includes detailing the Tools. These updates should follow over the next little while.

Then, with release 2.000, I'll introduce a Pick "n Build feature: certain sub-assemblies will be or have "menu" type choices for you to start customizing your OX build.

Version 3.000 should introduce a clean print out of the shopping list.

Version 4.000 should then introduce images : the exploded views of sub-assemblies would be great !

Version 5.000 could become a build guide, complete with videos !

Have I missed anything so far ?

Maybe you can give each build a try, even if you already have your OX. Let me know how well (or bad) it does compared to your manually made BoM, costing, etc.