12x12x6" Fixed Gantry

[draughted]

i am covering this build thread now after a few months since its conception.

it's origins are in the small router the rockcliff, which i soon found unattractive and slow. i am a keen observer of the radical ideas presented on this forum and found my self looking to display some of my own.

i now admitt the idea was maybe just what some one else was doing ,but there are no original ideas in the world, and i came up with something that fit my needs anyway.

so things like the cheap ballscrews someone showed me on ebay, became a large part of my future plans. and i wanted to use them in conjuction with the linear rail i had from the rockcliff. I knew i had to make a rigid design that would keep itself together, yet be easily constructable so aluminium became my choice. i had seen it done before and having it cut from plate was the solution.
this was now going to be a project that would consume some cash.
as outsourcing was all that could be done.

i got started on Acad and soon enough i had a good idea of the size and shape.



this is the result!

the next step was getting a quote.

much to my supprise the machining of the aliminium was cheaper than say water or laser cutting . so the choice was made.

and with a week of corespondence, and a week turnaround
i had all the pieces on my shop floor.



last summer i invested in a set of tap and dies, so the tapping began.

in a day or two i was looking at my creation. a full fledged 12x12x6 fixed
gantry router

[draughted]

some pics...





basic assembly.