[InventIt]

Good questio
Just wondering would large I beams be a way to go when building something like this? I beam frame, gantry etc

I believe I-beam would be more flexible. Box cannot twist like open I-beam can. If I did it all over I would spend the extra $$ and made the base heavier. Machine want's to jump all over the place when the motors are tuned for hi performance.

Of course it all depends on what you want to cut and how high a MRR (material removal rate) you expect.

[toranacar]

Very good point, box beams with half inch walls? 10inch X 5inch?

I believe I-beam would be more flexible. Box cannot twist like open I-beam can. If I did it all over I would spend the extra $$ and made the base heavier. Machine want's to jump all over the place when the motors are tuned for hi performance.

Of course it all depends on what you want to cut and how high a MRR (material removal rate) you expect.

[CROSSHATCH]

2k is a great price! Now i'm excited!

[InventIt]

The warm weather we have had lately motivated me to work on the Y axis improvement I have been planning. This was a simple mod in an effort to help improve on rigidity. I had previously bought extra bearing runner blocks for the Rexroth 25 rails on the y axis. I am increasing the mount from 10" in length to 15" and adding one more runner block for a total of three runner blocks. I will do this to both sides of the gantry. This should improve rigidity of the gantry.

First pic shows the original 2 block mount
2nd pic the gantry is lifted slightly and the mount removed
3rd pic was drilling the 9/16 holes on the Bridgeport where the gantry bolts to the mount
4th & 5th is a pic of the new longer mount with the 3 bearing blocks installed

Next mod will be to shorten the z axis travel by about 10". I find the weight of the z axis sticking out so far (and cantilevered) from the gantry seems to be a problem when changing direction in the y axis. I haven't decided if I want to modify the existing z axis or make a new one and save the old one for another project.

[InventIt]

2k is a great price! Now i'm excited!

Yeh, I guess I got a good deal on the machine work. I went back 6 months later to have the same shop machine the z axis plates (3 steel plates, 1"x8"wide and 12-28" long, surfaced with a few holes drilled and tapped, fairly simple) and he wanted $2500 !!!

That's how I ended up with a series II Bridgeport in the shop

[CROSSHATCH]

I'm looking to have a shop do some work for me. Mainly a frame with some minor machining/lapping/tapping ydadada

You built your table right? That's my problem...the shop would need to do it.