Just drill the box and make the shaft and knob go outside.
@Jorge_Robles Heh that is a good idea I will add that to the options. I was going to cut a slot in the front of my machine anyway.
I’m not well equipped to do much metal working. The best I have is a dremel and a miter box saw fitted with a wood cutting blade, unfortunately.
I wonder if anyone would be up to making me a kit from this design for a reasonable labor rate (plus materials of course)?
@Bob_Buechler my goal is to be able to do this with shop tools; drill, hacksaw, screwdriver etc. There is some simple machining of 4 screws (e-clips) that we can get a batch made or provide drawings to your machine shop.
I am sure that when the design is tested and ready we can figure out a way to hook you up :). I have a lot of stuff backed up so I do not know when.
BTW here is newest design simplified. I am trying to work out a tension mechanism for the forward clamp: https://plus.google.com/113684285877323403487/posts/4rZosYeYd14
COOL. 
In the meantime I yanked the stock plate w/ the stamp clamp in it, and replaced it with a simple expanded steel grate and some washers. Good news is, for my most common need, after measuring, it appears as though the bed is at the optimal cutting height, so it looks like I’ll be able to actually get results from it as-is.