Another extended (sorta)X2 base idea

[Farasien]

Hey Pete-

Not a problem. There is a little counterblast from some people here because, like in almost any forum of any kind, there are trolls who come on and antagonize-because they can- and people whose minds can get around the idea that others don't see things the same way as them, and so argue to try and get people to see things their way.

As far as the column, yes, I have a few ideas turning around in my head. For my current X2, I did some heavy rework of things to stiffen up the column. I bought a 24X1X6' chunk of aluminum, drilled about 30 holes through it and tha back of the column (after filling it with polymner concrete) and bolted 2 12X10X5/8 plates to the sides of the aluminum plate, than this whole thing to a base plate of aluminum. I also machined a spacer plate to fit between the space of the bottom of the aluminum column plate and the base, wchich I also tapped and bolted through the bottom of the spacer plate into the base itself. I'll try to get a few pictures when I can (I'm goofing off @ work atm) on here. Anyway, I did all this because I got paranoid about machine rigidity. Its solid, but I have a better idea for the new column.

For the new one, I'm thinking of getting a plate of aluminum 2X4X24 to which I'll bolt some dovetails for the head (unless you can tell me, Hoss, how I could make vertical boxed ways somehow... I'm probably going that route, by the way-Thanks again!). To the back of that plate, I'll likely bolt another 2 steel 2X4's (or weld them, if I can get access to the school's weld shop again). The bottom of this will get bolted to a heavy steel base plate underneath the whole machine. I think this ought to be damn-near rock solid when its done, though I still have a few other issues to work out.

As far as extending out the head, that's possible using Hoss's idea. I'm doing something similar- Using one of those cheaper 4' rotary tables you can get off eBay, I made a mounting for the space between the head and the head mount block. I can CNC the rotary table making a powered 5th axis. Combined with the tilt mod Hoss came up withm its a little more than Hoss's in length, and if I end up needing more (which I very well might with the extra Y travel) I cal always make a spacer plate to bolt in between things.

I'm finding this is a little like building a high performance engine... There is an increasingly nagging amount of tradeoff in this. More Y travel makes for more bracing required for the column, making for a larger footprint making it less likely to be a true 'benchtop' machine.... By the time I'm done, I'll likely have a full-sized Haas by the way I'm going...

-Farasien