[GME]

The quick answer for the bottom mounting plates is either 3/8 or 1/2 inch think plate. If you have ever none any welding on steel you know it will always distort some. It can be held to a very little amount by proper welding procedures but some will always be present. Mine as I suspect all of these produced have some distortion, but you really need to look for it and No shims. I think the jig and stress relief was done on the actual gantry frame.

The stand is intended to be a stand ( ) alone item. Why not assemble it first like I did, move over to one side bring in the machine and then lower on the stand? You may need to enlarge the mount holes in the machine to make it line up with the stand, or maybe not? I think you can see the above in my build post.

If Nate maintains the .1 mm spec he advertises, I can live with it. I'll just buy some .001" shim washers and call it good. Even though I favor the epoxy bedding method (I know, you don't), I doubt I would bother with it to close a gap as small as .004" at its worst.

I agree that any welding process will cause some distortion - even it's as little as .1 mm. I talked about it in PLJack's build post, when the subject of a gap came up. I'm hoping that mine meets the advertised spec, or very close to it. If it doesn't, I'll work with Nate to get it sorted out.

On the stand, I don't see any functional difference in putting the stand together an 1/8" in in the air, or on the ground. I acknowledge that I may be missing something, but, so far, no one is filling in my knowledge gap. For me, the question is whether I can get the holes to line up where the stand mounts to the CNC frame. What I want to know in advance is whether there is some play where the legs and come together with the horizontals. I rarely see anything bolted together where there isn't some play. Whether there is, or the extent, will help me decide how I want go about it. I'm trying to avoid drilling out holes, if I can avoid it. That's the answer to your "Why not assemble it first like I did" question. I may end up doing it like you did (or are going to do), but I'm willing to spend a little extra time exploring an alternative. I'm retired and may or may not use the machine for profit. So, an extra hour or two spent looking at a different approach is no big deal to me.

Thank you for your input.

Gary

[Ntl]

If Nate maintains the .1 mm spec he advertises, I can live with it. I'll just buy some .001" shim washers and call it good. Even though I favor the epoxy bedding method (I know, you don't), I doubt I would bother with it to close a gap as small as .004" at its worst.

I agree that any welding process will cause some distortion - even it's as little as .1 mm. I talked about it in PLJack's build post, when the subject of a gap came up. I'm hoping that mine meets the advertised spec, or very close to it. If it doesn't, I'll work with Nate to get it sorted out.

On the stand, I don't see any functional difference in putting the stand together an 1/8" in in the air, or on the ground. I acknowledge that I may be missing something, but, so far, no one is filling in my knowledge gap. For me, the question is whether I can get the holes to line up where the stand mounts to the CNC frame. What I want to know in advance is whether there is some play where the legs and come together with the horizontals. I rarely see anything bolted together where there isn't some play. Whether there is, or the extent, will help me decide how I want go about it. I'm trying to avoid drilling out holes, if I can avoid it. That's the answer to your "Why not assemble it first like I did" question. I may end up doing it like you did (or are going to do), but I'm willing to spend a little extra time exploring an alternative. I'm retired and may or may not use the machine for profit. So, an extra hour or two spent looking at a different approach is no big deal to me.

Thank you for your input.

Gary

Just assembled it but don’t tighten the bolts all the way install the router with a engine hoist or something similar so you can keep most of the weight off the stand. Then just line up the holes bolt them down and tighten everything up, then you can take the router off the hoist. I’m not really sure why everyone has such a hard time with something simple. Of coarse there is play in the bolt holes there has to be some tolerance or you would never get all those bolts installed. If you’re worried about it just open the holes up a bit prior to mounting the router.