Linear rail question

[Lee Roberts]

Really you want to keep the x axis (gantry assembly?) as close to the bed as you can.

I can't remember what I went with on mine but I think I left around 150mm clearance from the lowest part to the bed, this will be reduced though because like you I'll have a bed plate, sacrificial plate and so on.

My machine was originally aimed at sheet work, in wood, so that's what I had in mind at the time, though I didn't know as much then as I do now and a few things changed along the way.

So again keep it as low as you can but do consider if at some point you may want to add an additional rotary 4th axis to the bed, the size of a chuck for instance would need to be accounted for, you may just need to lay a chuck on the bed as a clamp or for use in an indexing operation.

.Me