[peteeng]

Hi Dan - Maybe but I think it will surprise you. As a one off done in a manual sheetmetal shop, yes maybe but I think it will be cheaper then a fabricated version. But in a semi automated laser bender production line its economical. The smaller routers I have made have been very economical compared to extrusions and other techniques. Once its designed & costed we shall find out. Plus I have it made in 2, 3 or more units so it's a production run vs a one of. Its intended to be a volume machine so its aimed at 10's, 50's hopefully 100's. Then it will be very cheap.

Currently this router is stiffer on paper then most small mills. So it has a fair bit of metal in it. Once the design is detailed and I run the final simulations it maybe honed down a bit. But it will still have the same amount of bends and a bend generally costs the same no matter what thickness the metal is.

On another matter nuts, bolts and washers have always been hard to deal with. Do I put them into the sub assemblies or GA, do I use patterns etc etc. All of this comes down to we need a BOM at the end so I can order the right amount of screws. I've tried various methods but they all involve manual consolidation at the end. I think I have finally found the best way. 1) I created a bolt rack assembly that I placed into the GA, as I need bolts etc I duplicate from this rack. In this way all the bolts washers etc live in the one assm. This means at the end it has its own single BOM that I can send to the fastener place for orders.... hallelujah!! unfortunately I have started putting bolts in before I thought of this so I either rework it or leave it. Easiest to leave it for now. Peter