That looks good I found too fast the base rails as sent to us are too weak to maintain square… I am looking at going up to the 40 mm rails and doing a similar grid on mine. Was that plate of aluminum less than an aluminum t slot base would of ran?
Wish aluminium was affordable here.6mm is about $190/sqm.
I had to make do with an MDF base on the torsion box with sacrificial MDF panels between T-Track similar to what you are planning. (I used sail track instead of T-Track to keep the price down)
I based mine on a design by @DavidWestley
how about a stepper bit?
Man, I’ve seen your previous wasteboard. Be careful that you don’t run a bit over those T rails by accident.
I did a similar thing to your grid structure on my .5m X-Carve but it was considerably less complicated due to the size. The problem that I ran into was that the corner braces were just a bit thicker than the rails they attached to, so they acted as feet in places I didn’t want them. Also, you have to make sure that your cuts are absolutely dead-on square and true, or that you build in some play and rely on the braces to be your only point of contact from one rail to another.
I’m considering replacing the whole 2020 frame with a 37x39.3x3/4" aluminum plate, and then bolting all the uprights and t-tracks directly to it.
Wondering if you considered this Phil? Do you see any issues with this idea, other than the higher cost?
Yes, over 100lbs, and that’s a good thing. Might even go with a 1" thick plate.
The Mic6 cast aluminum plate I’m looking at is intended for use as a tooling base surface. I believe the fab process anneals the material to reduce residual stresses. It shouldn’t warp with temperature. The idea is that this will be the reference which all other elements of the machine will conform to (including the table!). With the base plate I shouldn’t need a perfect table. I’ll just shim the plate to make it level.
I didn’t think you meant any offense, which is why I posted the meme instead of messaging you personally about it.
I’m glad that your brackets work well for your application. Perhaps you got different ones than I did, or a different manufacturing lot or whatever. In my build, the brackets I got were just slightly thicker than the rails were, which made them stand proud when laid flat.
Use water or wd40 and go easy so the shavings don’t gall up. You could try a spiral tap for CNC’ing. They are a bit more money but you can use a impact driver.
You could run down to Home Depot before they close and back that tap out really carefully
Or here’s a fancy idea. Grab a dremel with a cutoff wheel. Grind a slot in the tap and torque it out with a flathead screwdriver.
Let me know if that works!
106.87635 Lbs if I did the math correctly.
Sorry, that’s incorrect. Phil touched it and left a fingerprint. It’s 106.87638 lb!
use Alum to dissolve the tap without harming the aluminium it can be gotten at the grocery store in the seasoning section. build a dam mix alum with hot water and let sit for a day or 2 change out if needed
still a bit more than if it was made of concrete @94.668lbs
Drat.