Router Design Research - Help me find more GANTRY DESIGNS to SIMULATE (FEA) in CAD

Hi William - Its the outside skins of things that do the work. So a stiff outer is needed say CF offcuts, But to have CF offcuts on the inside is a waste of material and extra cost so you either make hollow parts ( hollow parts may vibrate) or you fill the skin with something eg sawdust, sand etc. You will also need mass as its a mill, so perhaps the "core" is heavy such as steel swarf. Once you get the design rolling then you will need to do some inertia studies to figure out motor sizes. I don't think you should use N34 motors N24 or N23 will be heaps. But that will come out in the wash.

Re infusion: water is the enemy and its not discussed or understood much in infusion processes. The people that know don't share much as they have industrial processes tied up so things like vacuum soaking is not discussed much.... Infusion videos make it look very easy but like all skills and processes there are traps and tricks...If you read up on vacuum soaking air conditioning systems to flash off oil and impurities in the system this will give you some idea of what your up against. Peter

By the way precision C7 does not exist. C7 is C7 and it has a spec. Precision in machines tools is a long way from C7...

Hi William - If you intend making machines that work in your business I suggest that you don't. Far easier and more profitable to get a loan, make parts earn money and pay off the machine plus it will have a resale value at end of life. If your going into business a biz plan is good to have. "Business" is totally different to what we are discussing. But that's for you to figure out.

So can the machine shop make parts for you as well? maybe good to get them to quote on some parts to establish a commercial value vs a backyard value... Peter

Hi Peter - Great feedback as always. Good point about the fact that hollow parts vibrate, I would never have though of that although it makes sense now that I think about it. Ahh yes the motors... Yes alright, I might intuitively have overestimated the motor requirements after watching some of Datrons high speed machining videos haha. The thought behind the madness was good acceleration, but as you said we will figure those things out when it becomes relevant:)

Infusion: You're putting some golden advice out there peter, I'd like to thank on behalf of the forum. I'll definitely look more into vacuum soaking.

Regarding the ball screws: I wrote precision regarding the grade, like 'the grade of precision'. On another note I'll probably end up buying some better ball screws then.

Yes I'm 100% aware that it doesn't make sense to build your own mill for business purposes. Time = money, and time could be spent better elsewhere for business purposes. Regarding my business I had been selected at a talent program for young entrepreneurs where I won the award for best business plan, but since then things have changed a bit.
- Funny story: The awards was about to be given, but nothing had happened for the last 30 minutes and I REALLY had to pee. I quickly ran out to the toilets to pee as fast as possible and get back in a hurry. I rushed though the door to the rooms where they would announce the awards for all the business ideas, and when I came inside I was presented with 100's of quiet faces turning towards me. I had won the main prize (best business plan), but it was announced 20 sec before I entered the room. Was a bit awkward to be honest.
It's been a little dream of mine to build a CNC machine since I was 14 years old, so this project is worth my time even though it doesn't make sense from a business point of view.

Good idea, it would be fun to calculate a commercial value for the build at the end of the project.

I've created the build thread! :banana: --> https://www.cnczone.com/forums/open-...ml#post2371822
- I'll write a little post tomorrow linking to some great articles that I found on your Maximus design thread for people to read if they find that sort of stuff interesting. I'll also give you some credit in that post. I would initially just write it now, but bedtime was 4 hours ago, so I'll let it wait a day.

Regards William

Hi William - Making the machine could for fine for the business, just need to be clear on why and clear on economics. Don't reinvent the wheel too often... Cheers Peter

If anyone else is interested in the Tetrium material, and as Peter is too modest or perhaps not allowed to post a link, here it is:
https://cncrouterkits.com.au/tetrium/