[fox3d]

Given the z-axis' plate width, what is the maximum travel along the width of the machine?
granite surface plate is 900mm x 600mm Z axis plate with is 200mm so the travel is 700mm


Given the thickness of the gantry, 2 times rail and bearing thicknesses, thickness of the two aluminium spacer plates on the z-axis, and the radius of the spindle housing, what is the maximum machineable depth?
i guess it will depend on the length of your endmill. Z axis travel is around 160mm

What is the clearance between the gantry and the surface plate?
around 180mm.

[nrgetic]

Thanks for the reply!

Given the thickness of the gantry, 2 times rail and bearing thicknesses, thickness of the two aluminium spacer plates on the z-axis, and the radius of the spindle housing, what is the maximum machineable depth?
i guess it will depend on the length of your endmill. Z axis travel is around 160mm

I wasn't clear enough when I wrote that question. I was thinking of the depth along the y-axis. With gantry machines like yours there is usually some area in the back of the machine that the spindle can't reach. I guess if the gantry beam is 50mm thick and you use 20mm rails?(?) with a rail+block height of 30mm with two 16mm Alu plates the "lost" y-axis depth in the back is (50+2*20+2*16)mm=122mm. And that is before the spindle is attached.

If I were to build something similar but with a smaller surface plate I probably wouldn't be able to shrink that loss very much. I guess it is possible to offset the two side slabs of granite so that they stick out/overhang some cm towards the back. Do you think that would destroy rigidity and/or create a significant cracking risk on the side slabs?