Im new, am a 3D designer. Need a New cnc machine and need advice and guidance

[njhussey]

So loose the second level of boxsection with the board ontop?

Keep gantry height to a minimum

Design in two ballscrews now rather than later

add more support for bed..

got it :) The general gantry design.. Is that ok? with a vertical piece and a 45 member to give some strength... How far should i keep the bearing carriages apart? from the faces that would touch..

IF you've gone through the build logs then you'll see a pattern in the design of the routers built recently which are 90% (this one isn't...http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/gantry...ercnc_mk3.html) all raised rails above the bed like the pictures I posted previously. They'll also answer most of the questions you're asking about designing them. You don't have to go re-inventing the wheel! Most people on here want to cut the same things that you do (I do as I want to make parts for balsa and ply planes, carbon fibre heli frames and quad frames, ali parts for my helis and quad etc...) so their routers have been designed as a best compromise to achieve this. Re-read all the build threads to see how designs have changed along the build. Mine's a very good example of just this. I started with a similar design as the one you're doing and has evolved as I've read more build logs and asked questions...