fl-200 cutting area??

[tkms002]

Hi, our robotics club is thinking of building an FL-200 or maybe and FL-400. We were wondering if anybody can tell us what the cutting area is? I know the 200 is called a 2x4 system but is the cutting area actually 24x48? Also, how good are these machines at cutting aluminum with a 3.25 hp router?
Thanks
Bruce

[bmxGrant]

hey there, i dont have many answers for you myself because i just troll cnczone researching for my cnc project. I have been reading the http://www.cnczone.com/forums/diy-cn...ing_curve.html thread and it has made me belive that cutting aluminum should be no problem with an FLA machine and a 3hp router. From what it seems like a 3hp router might be overkill since rpm seem to be the more important issue with aluminum milling. Louie is cutting aluminum with great results (watch his youtube!) with a wood frame, and a trim type router. Hopefully this helps, and if any of my information was wrong like i said i just troll so feel free to correct me

[brtech]

I have a 300, and the cutting area is a bit over 50 (or maybe 51) in Y, and 49" in X.

Not cutting aluminum yet, but expect it to work fine with my Hitachi M12VC. What everyone says is shallow depth of cut, 40% or so stepover, and high rpm, then work out how many ipm you can run and maintain the cut quality. Need cooling and chip clearing, but it appears that an air hose and an occasional squirt of WD-40 might be enough.