Been lurking here for a while, soaking up good info. Wanted a cnc router for years but didn't have the funds. In January attended a "CNC Retreat" hosted at the shop of a friend of mine from the local woodworking guild and Legacy (he has a Legacy Arty 58 and is upgrading to a Maverick). This convinced me to figure out a way. I planned on making a machine out of baltic birch, and had a great idea to make the entire gantry and gantry supports as an integrated torsion box type design. After all, i have a friend with a cnc and he could accurately cut out the pieces I designed.
Heeding the lessons learned on this forum, I spent some time working out the size I wanted, understanding that a wood structure is not stiff enough to be very large. My needs: cutting area at least 24"x36", cutting wood sheet goods and solid wood, maybe occasional plastic. I figured if my parts were within 1/32 (.030) it would probably be better than I was already doing. Do not expect to be able to mill aluminum.
Then I decided to sell my "just for fun" little miata - getting too stiff to get in and out, and it really doesn't fare too well during Colorado winters. Last month listed it on craigslist, and sold it $2100 - just under what i paid for it 10 years ago (it was a 1991 model). Now i had a budget.
While on craigslist, I saw an ad for 8020 extrusions. They had mostly 3030 and 3060 extrusions, the heavy series 15 type. Took a day off work and drove 150 miles and found the mother load. They were used, and covered in dust - they came from some plant that sawed rock with a diamond wire.
Attachment 315318
The provided me with a pallet and I began loading up. Total came out to 385 pounds, charged me $385 at $1 per pound! Inventory:
Qty 2, length 81", 3060.
Qty 1, 64", 3060.
Qty 6, 56", 3030.
Qty 2, 64", 3030
Qty 2, 40", 3030
Qty 4, 31", 3030
Plus a small box of miscellaneous hardware which I'll cover later.
Time to rethink my design.