Re: Stiffening 50x100 extrusions
Very interesting thread thanks peteeng. When I built my plasma cutter, I thought the cost of extrusions were excessive despite seeing them in use on a number of commercial tables. My local aluminum supplier had 80 x 40 x 4mm box section which I went with. Yes it was a bit of stuffing around to drill and tap holes on a 1600mm long beam but its worked very well. A M6 thread still has 4 threads to hold which is more than enough for any engineering. Also don't forget there is additional stiffening added by the time you bolt on linear rails and gear racks. My next door neighbour spent $100k or so on a table that used extrusions then complains of lack of accuracy becasue the surfaces are not machined.... So thanks for confirming my decision was sound.
Rod Webster
www.vehiclemods.net.au