Sorry for the late reply, Good to hear you guys won at USFIRST.org this year, what a great accomplishment,
I do remember you contacting us earlier this year, but cannot remember if I sent you guys an updated plan set, it has been an extremely busy year here for us, so I could have easily missed the email, please re-send and I will certainly re-send an updated set,
When it comes to cnc routers, and cutting, rigidity and no back-lash in the drive are the two most important points for the mechanics, I think anytime you can use steel over wood, is always the best choice, but I have seen some incredible wood machines, do some great work, I think for most builders, it's always the same, financial and tool resources will always dictate the final design.
Good luck with next years competition, at USFIRST,