Re: What is the practicality of cutting 1' x 3' x 1/8" aluminum on a gantry CNC Router?

Eric

You may want to join the larken yahoo group and ask the guys there if
any of them are cutting aluminum on their routers.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Larken_CNC

Bill

--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@y..., glee@i... wrote:
>
> Background to this question:
>
> I desire to (someday) build a robot chassis similar to those found
at
> http://www.irobot.com/rwi/.
>
> My thinking would be that I would cut out the parts and then have a
local
> welder heliarc the sides, etc together for a sturdy frame. The rest
would
> be bolted together.
>
> The base would be 1/4" aluminum while the sides and rest could be
made with
> 1/8" or thinner if using diamond plate.
>
> Assuming that I following my thinking, the next step is to cut
these parts
> out. Since I have the parts to make a CNC Gantry router of size:
36" x 36"
> I thought that I might use this to do the job. When I purchased my
Sherline
> Lathe and Mill with the CNC Retrofit, I had the Bill Griffin make
me a
> complete cable and 4 stepper set so that I could easily connect it
to some
> future CNC device which I would build.
>
> So, the question comes: Just how practical is it to machine
aluminum on a
> small Gantry Router? Most small Gantry routers have no mass and I am
> concerned that this would make it difficult to cut these parts.
>
> Bill and I have been having this discussion and he noted that
although many
> vendors (such as Larkin and others) tout their 24" and 36" gantry
routers
> as capable of cutting aluminum, he has yet to see them actually
demonstrate
> anything other than wood or plastic at the shows.
>
> I would like to hear from anyone who is or has machine cut thin
aluminum
> plate of sizes up to 1' x 1' x 1/8" with an occasional piece up to
1/4"
> thick?
>
> Speed is not an issue as this is a hobby. Safety and practicality
is. Other
> options would be to build a cnc plasma table (but that would be a
whole new
> venture) or just find someone with a CNC router or plasma cutter
and farm
> out the cuts.
>
> No rush on this, I'm just thinking aloud and would welcome any
discussion
> on this.
>
> - Eric