El Beast - Initial design phase, comments and critique welcomed!

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Ok great, thanks - glad you agree with my thinking then!

I've just done a mass analysis on the finished machine and its coming in at just shy of 190kg... I know mass is but one suggestion of rigidity but that's not far off 3 times the mass of my current machine.

I've also taken the opportunity to change to a HGR25 rail and HGR25HA carriages on the Y-axis since there is more space now.

Had a quote back for all motion parts, it was pretty reasonable for ground screws and HIWIN rails. Think I'm good to pull the trigger on those parts?

This is certainly going to be one of the most beautiful and best machines I have seen. Seeing and following your posts I am sure that the quality will match the beauty and it will not just be a "beautiful blond" with only good looks and sexy appearance, but it will also have massive quality and accuracy attributes.

I also like the idea of protective side covers, I think this is important because of several reasons, apart from the most obvious that it keeps most of the chips inside the working table area, it also works pretty efficiently when the cutter is broken and comes flying at you like a deadly projectile at high speed. I also have side walls around mine and that have stopped two such projectiles already from hitting me, so it is definitely a good idea to design that protection from the start. I actually don't understand how other people dare to run these machines without any protection at all, some not even using protective goggles. Perhaps they never make mistakes and never break a mill bit, I don't know, but that's their business.

The only thing I'd do differently in your design regarding the walls is that I'd make them easily removable, preferably without the need of unscrewing. This is because it helps placing the work piece/vice/measuring instruments and so on on the table more easily. It also allows working on longer than the table work pieces if you would need it some day.

The other thing you should consider is the mass. 190kg is a very heavy thing, which is very good for a machine, but it sets some requirements for the table also. No point building such heavy machine if the table it is on is not stable enough, which I am sure you know very well also.

The other thing about the mass you have to consider is the ability to move it around. Perhaps it is a non-issue, but anyway, if you one day have to move it just a little bit, it is going to be a very difficult task if you haven't thought about that during the design. My machine is only about 90kg but to move that around on my own is not possible, so I have to lower the machine on wheels to do that, and even so it is not something which is done in a minute or two, first I have to lift the machine then remove the wooden blocks it is standing on then lower down on two wheels and do the same for the back, or the front part, depending on where I start. Mine is standing on it's own feet, so it is a bit easier than it would be for yours.

Perhaps you have these questions covered/solved already, but before starting the machine build, I'd build the table to build it on and made sure the table is extremely easy to rotate and move around during the work. It is going to be necessary to have easy access to all sides, that's for sure.

Anyway, it is very interesting to follow up on your work and see the progress. Good luck with the rest of the work as well, and don't forget too keep us updated, both here and on the Zone.