Joe's 1000x600x200 steel and aluminium router started

[NordicCnc]

Don't lose any sleep over either choice, choose whichever suits your requirements best because the difference is minimal and both will work fine provided you got a good strong gantry foundation.
I've built several machines using both methods and there is no obvious difference in cut quality or performance so build to suit your needs.

The gantry foundation will be a 160x80 aluminium extrusion and the sides will be raised so that the x-axis is as close to the y-axis as possible. Right now my design ia with front mounted rails but I figured I am loosing quite a bit of work area because of it. Do you think it would be sufficient to change it to top and bottom mounted?

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[JAZZCNC]

Do you think it would be sufficient to change it to top and bottom mounted?

My last post said it all really. Do which suits your needs best.

[Voicecoil]

You needn't lose too much work area, but there will always be a certain zone where the cutter cannot reach (unless you make your Y axis rails longer than the bed). This is because you want to have a decent distance between the carriages on your Y axis for stability (I went for 200mm IIRC), hence the machine will be at least this much longer than your cutting area.I arranged things on mine so the cutter reaches to within 30mm of the front of the bed, with the "dead space" behind.Decide on what X, Y and Z capability you want then as Jazz said choose whichever layout fits it most convieniently.