Solsylva Parts Help

[AlexJay]

Hello All,

I was wondering if Steel Rods can be substituted by Steel Tubes. I am making the 13' x 13' solsylva table and has access to 1/2" steel tubes for the linear rails as I can get them for free. This will lower the cost of the machine for me.

Is there any rule to say that tubes cannot be used for any particular reason.

The rods will only have the weight of the moving bed on it, and the other rods will be supporting the gantry axis.

Can anyone shed some light on this one please?

Thank you very much.

Alex

[floodx]

Originally Posted by AlexJay Hello All, I was wondering if Steel Rods can be substituted by Steel Tubes. I am making the 13' x 13' solsylva table and has access to 1/2" steel tubes for the linear rails as I can get them for free. This will lower the cost of the machine for me. Is there any rule to say that tubes cannot be used for any particular reason. The rods will only have the weight of the moving bed on it, and the other rods will be supporting the gantry axis. Can anyone shed some light on this one please? Thank you very much. Alex

Tubes will have a lot more flex to them than rods. Since the 13' x 13' table does not offer support for the rods (/tubes), this may be an issue. It will ultimately depend on the thickness of your tubes. Too thin and they'll flex too much; thicker ones will flex less.

[jm82792]

What are the rod sizes?
If they are slightly smaller then 1/2'' rip apart printers as they have them, and usually they are free or dirt cheap from thrift stores.