Alternatives for gantry tube material
Hi all:
I'm getting together materials for my first build. One of the nice things about where I work is that I can buy metals through our raw material department, and take advantage of really good pricing that the company gets without having to buy big pieces. The only problem I am having is that we don't use the 1.5 x 3 x .125 rectangular aluminum tubing, used in the gantry, at work. I have two options. I can get a solid bar (4.2x the mass) at work for about $32, which is about what I would pay for the tubing shipped from Metals Depot. Or I already have a piece of 8020 extrusion 1530 profile (2x the mass) for free. Would these heavier pieces have any ill side effects, or would the mass be helpful to dampen things a bit? These would be somewhat stiffer, which wouldn't hurt, either. Your thoughts?
The above ignores the difficulties in machining the alternates to attach bearings and the Y rail. For the moment, I'm just concerned with the effect of increasing the mass of the gantry.
And if anyone knows of a less expensive source for the tubing, I'm all ears.
Thanks in advance,
John.
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