Quote Originally Posted by progomez View Post
Thanks for the reply.

That is why I was going to buy supported rails but zapp advised against. Maybe because they are opened backed? Just need a simple and quick way of making an x axis so that I can used the machine to cut a joe cnc.
Supported for X and Y is preferable because the weight of the load (router + vertical forces) causes significant negative deflection in the vertical plane which the support effectively resists. However supported rail is strong to resist loads into the support but poor when being pulled away from the support which is why Gary recommends something stronger such solid profiled rails where the glides run on the edge and better resist forces equally into and out of the plane of the rail as well as turning moments.

Thats doesnt mean you cant use unsupported rail in thr Z direction. In reality the deflection will be much smaller than what I suggested and for a small machine 12 or 16mm rail may well be adequate if the depth of cut is kept small enough. As Lee says, his works fine...