Sturdy and Fast all Steel CNC , my first build

[cncJim]

Good job! Thanks for taking photos, sometimes I find it hard to visualise what people have done. The epoxy looks very neat, I would love to see some pictures of it when it's cured. How do you pour it? Just on one side and let it flow down the channel to the other, or fill both sides at the same time?

Did you weld the frame yourself? Looks very good.

Jim

[Boyan Silyavski]

Thanks!

I filled both sides at the same time. The magnets at the corners helped as they were 4.25mm thick, as i could clearly see how much i should pour to achieve 5mm thickness.
As the channels that connect the sides were very thin and i have not mixed enough epoxy, had to mix second time and pour in the channels.

if i was to turn back time, i would have used the same aluminum angle profiles, fix them with scotch only from outside and use cheap epoxy with a brush to make a kind of base, which would close the distance from the channel to the profile against spill. When dry and so secured, pour over the expensive epoxy :-)

Yes, i welded the frame , the process is described at post #43. My second welding job in fact. Good that i was careful there, now things are much more easier that could have been with not so careful welding. used a cheap 250A Mig which i obtained from ebay+C02, hence the not so smooth welds.

[Jonathan]

How do you pour it? Just on one side and let it flow down the channel to the other, or fill both sides at the same time?

If using the self-leveling epoxy method, then the only way worth pursuing is to have a channel between the two rails (sides) and ensure sufficient depth of epoxy to flow between them. If they were poured separately, then the sides would end up at different heights, potentially resulting in significant stress on the bearings when the gantry is attached, unless shims are placed under the gantry on one side.

[Clive S]

I know that I have posted these before but this is the way I have done it. The epoxy is the Wests system Very slow cure. ..Clive