John's Alu Profile build

[Evengravy]

That would probably be this 8x4 then. 10 x 5 with a Vacuum bed will be coming soon if I ever get out of this bloody house again.!!.

The vertical machine works amazingly for large machines with no downsides other than cannot use it as a bench. The advantages are many and I wouldn't go back to a horizontal machine if larger than 4x4. That said I'd still have a vertical machine under 4x4 for some of the hidden benefits like longer tool life and better chip management but below 4x4 the space-saving isn't so great.

Regards the filling of tubes then I've tried sand and while it does help a little it's not a massive difference. Don't fill tubes with concrete because it can shrink, it also doesn't mix well with aluminum. Expanding Foam and Silicone etc don't do diddly squat so don't waste your time money.

The best thing I found is to use a thicker wall tube in the first place and brace it well. Regards the aluminum profile then if you use HD version then you shouldn't have any issues with vibrations and I don't think to fill the voids with Epoxy granite will dampen to any great degree but it will certainly affect performance because of the extra weight.

That's awesome! This has given me some ideas for sure... Design wise it's not a million miles away from mine, I really wish I could weld. Maybe I can think of something I could make work using aluminium profile.

Ten four on the cement filling. I think I'll go with sand on the Y rails that don't need to move just for the added benefit, and try some test pieces for composites on the X gantry, to see if it's worth the hassle. I can't recall if it was HD rails, it was this type of profile from Dold Mechatronic: https://www.dold-mechatronik.de/Alum...-type-groove-8 maybe there is heavier type out there and that was my mistake.