1/4" aluminum plate better than MDF, or just wait

[RitualMods (Sam Griffith)]

Hi all! New here to the forum, but very much enjoying my Shapeoko 3 and reading the many topics that have helped me get started. I tried searching, but didn’t find any answers to my question. Apologies if this has been covered and just didn’t turn up in my search.

I am going to be working my way up to working with aluminum on my Shapeoko, with many thanks to the tons of resources I have found on here and elsewhere with tips and experiences. I know most people are getting a 1/2" plate of aluminum to replace their MDF bed with, but I actually just happen to have a large enough plate of 1/4" aluminum that I was given for free. While I will eventually go with the 1/2" bed when I can justify the cost, would switching to the 1/4" at least be a decent step up from the MDF bed, or not worth my time? I also have a large enough piece of 3/8" thick aluminum that I could drill and tap to actually mount my projects to.

Any thoughts on this? Thanks in advance!

[CNCInspiration (Max Berg)]

I would think 1/4 might be slightly flexible and might be too thin for threads? I am no expert, but I would at least go 3/8. Those are expensive pieces of aluminum!
OhioDiesel sells the standard S3 aluminum spoil boards that are 2 pieces and 1/2" thick for under 450, Might want to consider price compared to effort and possible fail loss.
Good luck with this!

[Andymiller91 (Andy miller)]

I made one out of 1/4” and used it for about 1 day. I would not recommend using 1/4”