Quote Originally Posted by Hemsworthlad View Post
Hi mike, Why wood. . well more why this quality of wood? dont get me wrong I love wood especialy quality woods and if it,s for looks then I understand.
But if it,s for strength then it will be a lot lot stronger and cheaper using steel and ali combo. . . To give you some idea I,ve just bought 10*7.5mtr lengths of 50*50*3mm box section for £180.
From this I,ve built 2*9*7ft frames for my garage doors, 2*9*6ft and 1*4*6ft frames for gates and all the frame work for my 1500*1300 project and still got left overs!!

My opion is that Oak and Iroko etc are fantastic for making furniture and gates Etc. . . but shite for a making quality CNC machine.
(No wood is dimensionally stable enough in the CNC world)
Compared to metal they will work out both more expensive and second best. . . . . you may as well save your money and take john up on his offer or a close second make it out of MDF.:heehee:

If you got to have wood give beach a look or red cedar both good straight grain woods and cheaper than oak.
Thanks for your comments - I came to that conclusion as well, so now I'm looking at the aluminium box sections sold by Hepco - I'm sure it won't cost me £400!

Kind regards

Mike