Quote Originally Posted by Jonathan View Post
Forget all the cutouts on the gantry which have been included to reduce its mass. The servos you have a plenty powerful enough to move achieve the required dynamic performance for a gantry several times heavier than what you have designed. If you continue with your plan to use 100mm diameter pulleys then the inertia of just one of those pulleys will be more than the equivalent inertia of all three axes! Decide on the rapid feedrate you want, work out what drive ratio is required, select pulleys, then check that the servo motors are capable of driving it with the required acceleration. It is very simple to calculate, so don't compromise the performance of the system by using very large pulleys when they're almost certainly not required. If you're not sure how to work it out then let me know and I'll show you.

In answer to your direct questions:

  1. Depends what you want to do with it, but you seem to be in the right ball park.
  2. The consequences of using a lower thickness and having to replace it are far worse than the small increase in cost to use 10mm, so unless you're prepared to calculate it just stick with the thickest you're happy to pay for (presumably 10mm).
  3. It looks a bit risky to me - the tolerances on the parts would have to be very good for them to fit together properly.
I second that. The plates will distort not matter what you do. Use 10mm simple solid plates. Dont be afraid for the weight. When everything aligned and smooth, the gantry will slide with astonishing to you ease.

How you came up with such big pulleys? Another thing to point you is to make sure the pulleys are from Aluminum, cause last time i ordered pulleys from belting online assuming they were aluminum they send me steel pulleys. So ask and make sure before buying.