Re: suggestions for largish gantry for laser (and possibly router)

You should check out this page, it looks like type of router you want
to
build. Just checking out the pictures will give you an idea of what is
involved in building it.

http://www.inshorepowerboats.com/cnc%20stuff/CNCROUTER.htm

--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com, "skykotech" <rick@s...> wrote:
>
> Sigh. First I had a sherline cnc with, IIRC, about 4" x 10" travel.
>
> My wife was always coming up with things she wanted made that
needed
> just a few more inches travel.
>
> Then I got my shizuoka with 29" x 15.5" x 16" travel. Last night
we
> were cutting tombstones out of 1" foam with my 17 watt CO2 laser
and
> kept running up against the travel limits again! lol. I ended up
> taking off the rear way cover to get an extra 2" of y
travel...sheez.
>
> So now my wife is pushing me to build a 4' x 8' cnc router/laser
> engraver so we can just toss in full sheets of plywood, mdf, foam,
> etc. Since it is not all the time that your spouse wants you to
> spend lots of money on machinery, I figure strike while the iron is
> hot. :-)
>
> I am thinking about building something out of welded square tubular
> steel stock. Someone either on here or the emc group built a chain
> drive router with angle iron ways that was actually relatively
> accurate when milling even aluminum. That sounds like a potential
> route for me to take. Pitty my welding skills are so poor...
>
> The forces for the laser are negligable. I have a 50 watt laser I
am
> thinking of mounting to the gantry frame parallel to the 8 foot
axis
> that fires into mirrors moving on the y axis. Pretty standard way
of
> doing this..shouldn't be hard.
>
> I also want a machine that can route through a full sheet of 3/4"
> plywood. The laser is not strong enough to do that, so I need to
> build this machine rigid enough to support a wood router.
>
> How many people have had success with the angle iron/chain drive
> setup?
>
> thanks,
>
> Rick