[CATCH22]

Well I'm going to build a cnc plasma cutter. I have everything I need except the steel and was wondering what size of square tube I should use. It will be 5 x 5 table and I want to make it out of 2x2x.125 wall square tube. My question is do you guys think that the .125 wall will be heavy enough or should I go with something thicker.
Any help would be great.

Thanks Mike

[Arthurmetal]

I think it is heavy enough, but I am from Europe
In my opinion the rigidity of your gantry will make the difference; more than the weight or your table frame

[whateg01]

I built my existing 2.5' x 2.5' table out of 1.5"x2.5"x14ga tubing, and it's plenty strong. For a plasma cutter, the main things to consider are really the ability of the machine to keep the axes perpendicular. As long as that is good and the table isn't able to rack, it should be fine. My rev. 2 table being built now uses 1.5"x1.5"x14ga and I don't expect any problems. If you are using THC, even the torch height doesn't have to be perfect across the table, and besides, the metal is going to move when it's hot anyway.

So, I would guess that what you have will be fine. If you can flex it a lot, maybe just add some gussets in the corners.

Just my 1.7¢.

Dave