OK, here are a few bits of info on the table, like i said this is my first design so I wanted to be able to buy everything 'off the shelf' so it is easy to get parts. First of all the frame is 3" x 3" x 1/8" steel tube, I used 1" x 1" x 1/8" angle for the slat supports and the slats are 3" x 1/8" flat steel (cheap to replace). The table is 5' y (gantry) and 6' x inside measurements, gives me plenty of room for a 4' x 4' sheet. I squared and trued the table. The linear slides are from
www.igus.com Drylin T for the x axis and Drylin W for the y and z axis, those are the most expensive parts for the machine. I used a fixed slide on the motor side and a floating slide for the other side, per the igus rep. I then used 1/2 plywood to 'mock' up the gantry sides to get all the placements right then machined then out of 12" x 12" x 1/2" steel and welded them to the gantry crossmember which is 2" x 6" x 1/8" steel. All the motors (2 - RHT34-740 oz/in (x and y) and 1 RHT34-425 oz/in for the z), Gecko g201 controllers, and all the power supply parts i ordered from
www.homeshopcnc.com. The drive belts and pulleys and misc bearings are all from McMaster-Carr (
www.mcmaster.com). Like i said this is my first attempt so I hope it works out, if not there is always rework!!! Hope I didn't miss anything, if so just let me know. Hope to have it cutting this weekend. All said and done, I should have about $2500-$2800 into it, that includes a cheap computer I got at Wal-Mart, didn't want anything fancy, I also Powdercoat and I get dust ALL over!! When it is all done I get to tear it all apart and Powdercoat the whole thing, gonna be hard to do when it is working
Well, thanks for listening to me ramble, hope this is good info for anyone who in interested in a cheap table.
Dave