Chinese 6040 upgrade help

[Richardtweed]

Hey guys I'm finally fed up of my cheap Chinese 6040 routers unsupported rails so I'm upgrading to supported rails on the x and z axis in a bid to stiffen everything up so I can increase my cut times but my question is this, I want to use mild steel plates on the gantry to support the rails I am installing but unsure as to what thickness steel will be sufficient, would 6mm thick be ok or should is be much thicker?

Thanks for any input in advance

[Richardtweed]

Hey guys I'm finally fed up of my cheap Chinese 6040 routers unsupported rails so I'm upgrading to supported rails on the x and z axis in a bid to stiffen everything up so I can increase my cut times but my question is this, I want to use mild steel plates on the gantry to support the rails I am installing but unsure as to what thickness steel will be sufficient, would 6mm thick be ok or should is be much thicker?

Thanks for any input in advance

Anyone?

[Doddy]

To be honest I have no idea but 6mm steel sounds very thin - you can find beam deflection calls online easily enough, but I have some 5mm bar supporting a grow light (Tomatoes!) and that bounces like no-ones business; compare bar vs a 60mm box section 5mm thick and you'll see a hell of a difference. Perhaps the problem is that without reference to the machine construction its hard to visualise what you're trying to achieve - a couple of annotated photos could help.

[Adrian_S]

Sometimes aluminium is more rigid than mild steel, have you thought of using 2020 section?

[JAZZCNC]

It's the section of the steel more than the thickness. For instance, a 6mm flat steel bar won't do anything for stiffening the machine. But 3mm Angle would work because of its section.

Now I'm not saying use 3mm Angle but hopefully, you get the idea that section is more important than the thickness if it's used wrong.

[Sterob]

I will be interested to see how you go.
I was looking to do a similar thing a while ago but have not gone through with it.
Too many other things going on.

I was heading in fitting 'extrusion for the gantry' route. Maybe 135 x 45? I was looking at a Linear Rail conversion.( 45 series allows easy bearing block mounting)
It seemed alot of work and then your weakness will be your Supported Rails for the Y axis, but that may not be a deal breaker....