Joe90's BIG RAT Build.

[joe.ninety]

Whereas the rails on rear plate mean that the spindle can be lifted high up the rear plate so the tool clears the bottom of the gantry giving the full height from bed to underside of gantry even with a long tool. This means you can make your gantry lower and still have the same material clearance as the other method but it makes a much stiffer machine and better cutting so eliminates any advantage the rails on front plate offers.

Does having rails on the rear plate also mean that you can have a smaller plate on which the spindle mounts? Thereby saving on material costs?

Cheers