Well I've decided it was time to finally start on a project of my own. The machine will be a steel frame with some Aluminum parts. A working area of X-50" Y-18" and at least 12" on the Z. I will be using a linear rail system of my own design which uses skate bearings running on .875" 12L14 Hex Shafting. I plan on cutting a variety of materials from wood to some softer steels so the machine is going to have to be rigid. I have some concerns on my X axis with the placement of the linear rails. On the right view you can see how the contact angles might cause premature bearing failure and the forces for the wight and action of the Z axis will be too much for the rail and carrages running on the face of the Bridge Framework. Let me know what you think, I've still got a lot of work to do on the carrages and not much time in the shop to do them.
Carl