The extrusions are solid?? Wow.
I believe @Luke means the hybrid T-track.
You can see them in this image from:
https://carbide3d.com/blog/about-the-hybrid-table/
(the flat U-shaped extrusions which make up the field, not the other rectangular ones which are hollow)
FWIW, there are other providers of Aluminium extrusion with comparable prices. I came across Vention a while ago and they ship next day.
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I will definitely check them out, thank you!
We’ll have more to say about this as we get closer to shipping but we do not support bolting this machine down. You can block it in place to keep it from moving but we don’t want to machine warped or twisted as it’s bolted to a table. (This presumes that you’re not bolting it to a granite table, we might support that)
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I bolt my Pro’s down to 4 bars of 80/20 15LS extrusions that are part of the frame of the enclosure, and then bolt a 3/4" aluminum spoilboard on top of the machine frame slats.
Is this a bad thing?
The back wall the steppers are the last thing there - on the front you need a minimum of 5inches or 125mm from the front plate - this is bare minimum.
Yes, due to some funky bends the panels that turned out to be very hard to produce - the side panels didn’t fit properly - for a good part of the testing they have been left off and you can even see on that photo that they are not sat correctly and dented - we’d never let a production machine ship like this. One of the production changes was a new batch of side panels with a simpler design.
It should be noted that chips will still get in there, but the Y ball screws are fitted with the main shield, wipers and a rubber seal. You can also easily access them from the removable internal side covers.
Only the Y, we made a change to machine them from solid billet. It might be a bit over the top and a little unnecessary. Rest assured you can take a team photo standing on one.
Rob makes an excellent point here - I was running a demo machine on an epoxy levelled bench which I had since S03 days and I was sure it was flat. I was wondering why my machine was rocking when running and it wasn’t until I dropped it onto a granite slab and put a level over my old table I found the whole table had warped like crazy over the last year.
Kinda funny the machine was flatter than the table but if I had bolted it down it would have been a big mistake.
Now my machine sits on a granite counter top - which it’s self weights 80kg but cost next to nothing from a countertop company (second).
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I wouldn’t bolt down a Pro (and we don’t bolt down any of them here) but that’s less of a problem on a Pro/4. The HDM is compact and rigid, which is great for a CNC machine, but it’s doesn’t have enough flex if anything is warped as the frame is bolted down.
We just drop the HDM machines on tables here and they work well and they don’t move at all. If you want to block it in, I think that would be a good idea and it definitely won’t go anywhere.
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This is what my Pro’s are bolted to. I have had 0 issues and getting very accurate carves. I will not bolt down the HDM as instructed. I will surround it with 3d printed bumpers to keep it in place.
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For what it’s worth, I just assembled my Pro, and put it on a sheet of foam left over from the packaging of a machine at my previous workplace — seems to help w/ deadening noise/vibrations — just tapped the corners until the diagonals measured the same, then tightened up all the fasteners.
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My S3 standards were sliding around inside their enclosures during use. I came up with the 80/20 frame upgrade and felt like it was the most level sturdy method I could come up with by attaching it to the enclosure frame. If these 80/20 extrusions are not straight, they are very close to it. I tried making a enclosure base out of wood, it was so warped I wasted a ton of time and money on it, and will never do that again.
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Thank you Luke,
I will work with these measurements.
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The Pro, 4 and HDM all have a lot more contact with the table than the SO3 so we don’t see them moving around in use.
I think your enclosures look great. The one thing you could consider is to mount a post (maybe just a threaded standoff) where you currently tie down the Pro machines to provide location, without bending the machine to the frame when you tighten down a bolt. That said, if it ain’t broke…
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Thank you Rob, It would be a few days work at this point to unbolt them haha… Sigh.
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Just curious - with all those aluminum shavings what’s the procedure for getting them recycled? Aluminum is, I believe, the most easily recycled metal since it can just be melted and it retains all its properties afterwards.
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Save it up and bring it to a metal salvage company. I don’t think they buy wood chips and aluminum chips mixed in with each other so good luck with that, ha ha…
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You can even melt aluminium shavings yourself directly on the machine, using the (in)appropriate feeds and speeds, don’t ask how I know 
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Also check out Orange Aluminum they have great 8020 style extrusions and accessories with free shipping. I got a bunch of angle to use as corner guards for my walls and the price was great and everything was well packed and showed up undamaged.
I will be getting my enclosure extrusion from them along with some bar stock for my first batch of parts that will be ran on my HDM. I also want to make some Y axis end plate cross braces as my first upgrade. I will use 3/8 or 1/2 inch plate and bolt it through the side cover into the front plates. I don’t know if I will do a corner gusset front and rear or a solid bar across the entire Y axis.
There is plenty of room for adding extra end plate support on the left I won’t be able to judge the drag chain side until I have the machine. The cover will add some support but I want to reduce the stress on the front mounting hardware. It probably doesn’t need it but it won’t do anything but increase overall rigidity so it’s worth at least looking into.
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80/20 mills all my extrusions for hidden connectors, I use these:
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