Hello Peteeng: Interesting dust collection product, I will be saving this link for when I complete this build/retrofit
Hello Wizard: So the 16'' Z height was a bit of a random number... honestly 9'' clearance would be ok about 95% of the time for the work we do. I was trying to choose dimensions that would allow me to take on all sorts of unique work with other customers. There are a number of high end furniture makers near me as well as quite a few mold making shops, I had thought it would be nice to work with them making large unique components, hence the 16''Z, it would be an attractive feature I know without a doubt. If I can figure out a solution for a long Z movement that would be incredible but if for whatever reason I am stuck with a max Z height of something in the 10 inch range that will not stop me from following through on this build. I should also mention we have a crane in our shop and a beefy forklift so I am not worried about fabrication, we regularly fabricate welded assemblies larger than this machine might be, although not nearly as complex...
I am honestly surprised to hear about the morbidelli, it seems to be a very robust machine.
So I am slightly confused if there is a difference between a moving column and cantilever gantry design? Would the cantilever gantry have the Z carriage built onto it while a moving column create the Z movement in a similar way that a conventional Vertical machining centre does where the whole spindle slides up and down?
I have to say that at this point an open sided design (On the long side) is almost a must, the loading is just so appealing that I am not sure if I could consider going back to thinking about a gantry design. Right now we have a small gantry router and loading from the end is quite annoying, there have been a few times loading with a forklift and the machine gets bumped and then we have to re-level the feet.
Hey mactec54, I am surprised to hear you think a moving column would be a bad idea for a large Z movement, I had thought this approach would be the best for Z height. Like Peteeng says, I have seen massive machines plowing through extremely hard materials with a moving column design.