Quote Originally Posted by bigal999 View Post
Hi jazzcnc as i said before it my 65th birthday in a couple of weeks so I will have more cash available do you think £200 to 300 will be enough to build the X,y and z axis withe the bits I already have.
Albert
Sorry for the delay with reply Albert I've been a little busy.

I would say with careful buying and little scrounging that you could build a moving frame with £300 given the parts you already have. Obviously that doesn't cover the electronics because while you have motors and drives there are still other things like PSU's and relays, contactors, Fuses, etc which soon mount up.

Regards the design then I would go with a design something like what Kit suggested as it's a simple and proven design for a 3 axis machine for cutting woods and very light aluminum work.
To keep the costs down you don't need to use Aluminium for the ends and could use the profile you have already with feet to raise it up so you have clearance for gantry cross brace.
With this design and size, you will get away with a single screw, I've built dozens of machines that are similar size and design that used single screw without any issues.

Regards the Linear stage then I would sell it and build a stronger Z-axis. The unsupported rails are rubbish for a router but would be perfect for plasma so I would stick them on ebay and aim them at plasma builders by mentioning plasma in the description.

Hope this helps.