Hello, I'm going through a very extensive iteration of ALL the suitable CNC Router designs for a machine that can mill steel with a decent material removal rate.
I plan to document the project with a YouTube video series (Williams Garage Engineering, not much worth watching yet) as well as articles spread all over the internet haha.


I'm currently simulating different gantry beams to find the best design relative to stiffness, vibration dampening properties, and manufacturability.

I'd very much like for you guys to suggest more gantry beam designs that I can put on my comparison chart. The criteria for the beams is that they should be easy to
machine and build, therefore I'm only allowing the use of aluminium unless you can come up with a design that doesn't require machining on the beam (like steel tube
shafts, I have already designed this though). Hollow cavities like the inside of a square aluminium profile can be
filled with epoxy granite (it's basically "stiff" cement with superb vibration dampening properties).

I'm thinking about adding a C-beam to the comparison chart even though I know it's not going to be stronger than some of the other designs, but it would for sure
be good proof about the fact that there's better alternatives than using a C-beam as a gantry.


I've linked two pdf files with all the designs that I have currently simulated, so take a look and see if we need more designs to simulate!

Looking forward to seeing your design proposals =)