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Still working on that… I want to attach the table in such a way that I can lower/raise it AND still keep it
flat. -
Mill in screw locations, its a couple of dollars a hole and they can hold reasonably good tolerances.
The extrusion cross section works out well with the hole locations in the maker rail, but I have
considered a plate as well. -
So true, I started with a design that they provide for optical tables and machine bases. The trick is
trading rigidity as @WillAdams pointed out, for cost. I’m sitting around $650 with all milled -
Do you have a picture of your added support, or the spacing you’re using? I’d love to know how it
works out.
Keep in mind that for a lot of us, things like linear rails and extrusion based frames are just fun projects. Honestly I felt the same way you did at first about the sheet metal frame, but I didn’t have your resources. I stuck it out, and I’m kinda glad I did, there was a lot of fidgeting to get the thing squared and trammed in. In the end though you can do some incredible things with a machine that’s under the $3K mark look at @Vince.Fab and the early stuff he posted on here Hardcore Aluminum milling on an S3. Some awesome work from what was a mostly stock machine.
It’s just a trade off between the time to set up , cost of the machine, and toolpath layout. This is a cheaper option for a machine, but with proper time investment and good toolpathing it can do a lot.
That said I’m totally behind modifying the SO3 you have, keep up the good work, and keep posting build pics!