Heavy large scale gantry mill/router/3d carving 5 axis build

[Tristar500]

Been working on the design of my latest machine. I've got a half dozen cnc machines under my belt now and with the help of others here on the forum and 2 years designing the build has started on my most ambitious project to date, a 5 axis mill.

I plan to use the machine to help in the fabrication of the sculpture that I create. Specifically

 3D carving of the female form.

Here's a couple of examples of my sculptures and the general layout of the machine.

[Tristar500]

raw steel arrives from the mill..
 Williams Steel In Greensboro NC did and outstanding job oc precision cutting the 2X5 X.25 (inch) steel tubing to size.

I got right to work welding the pieces together. Each side of the frame is a hefty 280 lbs.

A day later, both sides are ready for assembly..

[Sam]

Looks like your coming right along. Keep us updated!

[Hood]

Looks like its going to be a sturdy machine, keep the pics coming

Hood

[Tristar500]

CNC metal mill drilling pilot holes for the brackets that hold the frame in place.

Brackets welded to cross members and opened up to .75" to receive the bolts that will hold the structure together.

[Tristar500]

Gantry is introduced to the frame for the first time.  Hopefully my CAD skills and measurements are close...

A little while later the gantry is carefully lifted via a floor jack a foot or so of the floor.  Step one..

[Tristar500]

a couple of hours later the gantry is getting closer to home..

[Tristar500]

Gantry finally in place. This was heavy and dangerous work. Balancing a piece of steel like this on one floor jack and then rotating in 90 degrees is a bitch.  Resting for a while..

Here's a shot of my now messy shop with me in the pic so you can get a feel for the size of the machine.

[Hood]

That reminds me of the kind of things I have to do in my day to day work, except its fish boxes that things are stacked up on

Looking good

Hood

[Tristar500]

Today I put a jig together to align the primary THK rail along the X axis. Holes were drilled and then tapped with using lots of cutting oil and the slowest speed on my cordless drill.  I set the clutch on my drill near it's lowest setting and got all the holes done without breaking a single tap

Later the rail was placed on the frame and each socket head cap screw was installed so that they are all still loose but the heads are beneath the surface.  This allows me to move the gantry back and forth to get at all the screws.

Late in the day I started positioning the X axis ball screw assembly, more on that in the next few days...