Steel Gantry Machine 1500x750x200

**toomast** · 26-03-2015

Originally Posted by njhussey

If you make the 10mm steel base a bit bigger than the strips you can put sides on it and then a drain in one corner and if you use coolant then you can drain it.....if you're not going to use coolant then ignore this

Thank you sir! I will do it.

**toomast** · 01-04-2015

Things are moving slow...but at least they are moving forward.
I wanted to do all steel Z-axis but as I had something thrown together in CAD I changed my mind. Main reason is weight. Steel Z will be at least 7-10kg heavier. As my hole gantry is at the edge of using servos I will go with aluminium Z design.
I'm not quite finished alu design but it will be from 25 mm thick material.
Here is a picture of my alu design (left) and steel design (right side).

**Boyan Silyavski** · 01-04-2015

I did all from steel cause i was doing the machine on the cheap and did not have somebody to machine it for me at that moment. Time wise is better to do all from aluminum. cause steel needs straightening, adjusting, first hand primer, second hand paint,...

**Sven** · 06-04-2015

I can't follow the reasoning for not using steel, except for silyavski reasoning. If the gantry is steel, 7-10 kilo'sfor the z-axis will not make things that much different. Except for stiffness!

If the machine is for wood and this big, acceleration is less of an issue than top speed and for top speed stiffness is paramount. And all is designed to be stiff, except for this z-axis....

Besides, you can get 20 Nm steppers of the shelf....

**toomast** · 06-04-2015

Originally Posted by Sven

I can't follow the reasoning for not using steel, except for silyavski reasoning. If the gantry is steel, 7-10 kilo'sfor the z-axis will not make things that much different. Except for stiffness!

If the machine is for wood and this big, acceleration is less of an issue than top speed and for top speed stiffness is paramount. And all is designed to be stiff, except for this z-axis....

Besides, you can get 20 Nm steppers of the shelf....

I don't have first hand experience for none of them. But I dont think 25mm aluminium stiffness will be worse than 10mm steel.
Popular belief in this forum is that weight is important and 20 Nm is not always better.
Anyways I have an opportunity to find out...