ViperTX,

I suppose there is not one, simple answer to your question other than, Why not? Which of couse is not an answer. However, if you have read the thread so far, you will appreciate that my design is a little 'Off the Wall' literally and as such I figured the lighter the construction the better the performance. There is no better material than carbon fibre for the combination of strength, stiffness and lightness. If you factor in my interest in composites as well, you may begin to understand where I am coming from.

I am also something of a free radical in that I do not always believe that convention necessarily gives us the ultimate designs. It is something I am keen my students learn. Conventional design is good for the majority of cases and works well but we are not exploring anything in just copying what already works. For me, this project is as much about exploring possibilities, materials, construction techniques and my abilities as ending up with a functional machine.

I happen to believe that, provided I can manufacture the parts, that a composite gantry will give me better performance than an aluminium one due to the properties of the material. Whatever the outcome, I know it will be better than the MDF prototype

Sorry if this all sounds a little philosophical but you did ask the question

Mike