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My main use for the epoxy I have is to level the bed. If my laminated gantry beam ended up if variations in it, I could pour a layer of epoxy on the side the rails attach. I would let this fully...

Its been an interesting learning experience with the gantry beam. A couple weeks ago I would have thought steel from a building frame would have been stiff enough for a gantry. Then I thought 1 LVL...

I had not heard or thought of that. Thank you. Do you sand through the resin with the hardener in it? I guess I would want to contact the company to ensure the epoxy I'm using would adhere well to...

Pete,
The epoxy is ProMarine self-leveling table top epoxy. https://promarinesupplies.com/ I have used it with success on several tables that are still like new after 20 years. I plan to use it...

Nice shop & steel frame. Let me know if you have any 45" pieces of steel beam left over :)
I have a 24' x 48' barn with a 16' x 48' enclosed work area in the barn's 2nd floor. But it's not...

Pete,

The info regarding multiple component stiffness is very helpful. It turned some more lights on for me. I plan on having a raised bed about the same as the height of the walls for most of...

Pippin,

I have access to free epoxy so the cost isn't an issue. I also thought it would protect the torsion box from mist coolant or lubricant if I was routing aluminum. But I shouldn't use...

Pete,

Thank you for those in-depth calcs. Its good to know the comparison between the laminations and a box beam, especially in the thinner width I'm looking at. Can any of the results be...

I didn't check the forum for today's reply's before drawing this torsion box gantry beam. It would be all the same plywood, I just varied the wood color so you could see the direction of the joints....

Hi Pete,
I'm thinking +/- 0.002 inches but this is my 1st build so I'm not sure what to expect. I'm guessing that would be fine for wood carving but I'm not sure about what I'll need in the...

Gerry,

Thank you for the input. I downloaded the Beamboy program. I Input some LVL info in there, but my current plan is to build by gantry beam by laminating up layers of MDO plywood to 3.5"...

Pete,

Thank you for the heads up on the removable wall. With it removed the router could handle 3/4 sheets of plywood. Have you ever done work where you need to move the workpiece as the router...

I made progress on the base this weekend and got the side walls on. The walls are 4 layers of 1/2" MDO plywood glued & screwed. I indicated the height of the walls from the top of the torsion box...

After taking in suggestions from forum members, here is my lastest gantry design. It would consist layers of 12" x 44" MDO plywood laminated together to end up with a beam that is 12" high about...

I made good progress with constructing the torsion box. I'm fairly certain about this part of the design so I moved ahead with it. I used MDO water-resistant plywood used for boats and outdoor...

Pete,

Thank you for the info. If my calculations are correct, the stiffness I seen on the single horizontal LVL was about 0.9N/um. I'd expect that to triple if I glued 2 LVLs together. As I...

RNFEA
Red Neck Finite Element Analysis :)

I'm trying to figure out the deflection on my proposed LVL gantry beam.
Ger21 (Gerry) told me 50 lbs of force to mill aluminum on a small router would...

Pete, you may be right about the vertical nature of my lvl based gantry beam. I thought the aluminum extrusion may help resist side movement. I have read that a lvl is 4 times as strong as a...

Zorbit,

Are you thinking of using a section of a round steel pipe/tube as the strength member inside a wood box beam? That's an interesting idea. If the forces of expanding foam could be...

I wanted to verify my axis labels so I'm not causing confusion. On my 24"x36" machine in the pics above, the machine will only have access from the front 36" side which is facing the spindle. I'm...

Pippin,

My thinking on the extrusions was to allow an adjustable interface between the laminated wood walls of the torsion box to the linear Y rails (See the circled area in the pic). This may or...

Hi Pete,

Thank you for more great info. I updated the model of the router with more details on the gantry beam and mechanical connections. I also raised the walls about 1.5" higher which reduced...

Here are details of my idea for a LVL (Laminated Veneer Lumber) beam capped with metal to allow for fasteners to grab in metal instead of wood. I got the idea from tinkering with the steel channel &...

I spent some time firming up the model, especially on the gantry. For the gantry beam, I'm looking at using a 7.5" x 1.5" LVL laminated beam along with some steel and aluminum. See the pics in the...

I'm designing/building a 36"x24" router and I'm looking at a 2-3kW spindle. (https://www.cnczone.com/forums/cnc-wood-router-project-log/410132-cnc.html)
I have been learning the equations for...

I have been working and tweaking this design in Fusion 360. I'm going to wait to for any feedback before doing the detailed connections from the Y rails to the spindle.. This is my 1st build and I...

I'm guessing they think too many commercial users are using the free version. Here is more info. It's supposed to happen on Oct 1st. The full version is on "sale" for $300/yr.
...

Swapping the X & Y lengths has got me thinking. I see several advantages to that and a 40" vs 28" gantry is not that big of an increase as far as ridgity is concerned. Time to start skectching some...

I will brush up on ball-screws. I see it as being simpler than the belt on belt and more rigid than normal belt drive.

A couple more questions (if I'm not getting annoying :) )

I'm trying to...

Pete,

Thank you for the valuable feedback. Can you tell me what a U drive is?

I'm looking at carving wood, wood on a 4th axis and 1/4" to 3/8" aluminum. The aluminum work would be making...