[peteeng]

Hi Redding -

Your "side view" image is a good snap shot of one of the issues with construction extrusion. The linear rail is bolted to quite thin and free edges. These deflect quite a bit under load so the section cannot achieve its global stiffness. Another issue with the free edges is that they vibrate which either can just be an annoying acoustic resonance or it can affect the machine performance if it vibrates too much. Since you are using construction extrusions it would be good to use their cast angles to help support the gantry connection better. End bolting of the extrusion pulls the connection together on thin edges that do not mate well. As a test, blue up the end of an extrusion and pull it up to the plate and see how much is actually touching. Or put a piece of paper in the connection and see how it witnesses...Then you will see that they may need a little lapping to get them to contact 100%...Cheers Peter

[redding]

Minor Update. The shipping of parts is in progress still. 11 CNC Parts complete.

I have taken everyone's advice as much as I can so far, and I'll be learning a lot as we go into it!

[redding]

Hello Everyone! It's all starting to come together. The X and Y-axis are now up and running and performing well! All limit switches are working, dial gauge tested 10mm accuracy to 0.0001mm, but need to do a longer distance test!

Check out more detailed images here: https://imgur.com/gallery/Baz0C8y

Keen to hear what people think so far!

[routalot]

That must be some dial gauge!

[mactec54]

That must be some dial gauge!

That's a normal resolution if that is what you work with, I have some that have another 0 or 5 decimal places that are used every day, just depends on the work you do

[mactec54]

Hello Everyone! It's all starting to come together. The X and Y-axis are now up and running and performing well! All limit switches are working, dial gauge tested 10mm accuracy to 0.0001mm, but need to do a longer distance test!

Check out more detailed images here: https://imgur.com/gallery/Baz0C8y

Keen to hear what people think so far!

Looks good I thought your box was plastic at first look so looked at your photos

[redding]

Looks good I thought your box was plastic at first look so looked at your photos

Nope! I actually used a computer case. I found it perfect and a fantastic budget idea for others. Most electrical cabinets I could find of that size were around ~$200-400 AUD, but this was $30. Sure it's not a watertight, and secure as a cabinet, but with an aluminum plate and a bit of 3D printing, it works well!