[TheWire]

Does anyone see an issue with this design? It raises the stationary rails right up to the bottom of the gantry beam. If the stationary parts are sufficiently rigid this design seems to:

Eliminate racking that could occur on a gantry.
Reduce the lever/moment arm that could amplify any slop in the linear bearings.
Eliminate the somewhat complex gantry post and its need for lots of bracing.
Raises the slides away from sawdust & aluminum chips.
Provides the ability to slide in stock from any direction.
The single point connections of the top rails would allow adjustment to a lower tolerance base frame.

[ger21]

Provides the ability to slide in stock from any direction.

Not sure without a picture, but typical high side designs severely restrict access to the table from the sides. For this reason alone, I would never want a machine with high sides.

[pippin88]

I think the key reason high side designs are not that popular is limiting access to the work area