I knew before I built my 'Mini Mill' that the gantry plate was only about 5ins square but there's always something just that little bit bigger than you want to cut but can't. So has anyone found a bigger gantry plate than the one above? I would think it needs to be reinforced underneath as you'd still be working from the original gantry surface but with the work area expanded outwards, so the spindle wouldn't be bending the work area on the outer parts of the plate. I hope that makes sense. If anyone has graduated to a larger one, please let me know. Thanks a lot.
If you're just looking for additional surface area just mount another plate on top of the existing plate. There's also an example here somewhere of someone adding a couple of lengths of V-slot across the top of the plate and adding a vise similar to MakerSL MSL-8 OB Vise. The only issue there is you'll need a shim plate to raise the V-slot up a few millimeters to clear the C-beam end plates.
I'm a little puzzled Rick. If I mount another plate on top of the first one then I'll still have only 5 square inches, the same area I already have. Or have I read your post wrongly. I also saw a plate 4 times the size of mine which was raised up by having strengthening (I couldn't think of a better word) plates underneath at 90-degree angle but I can't remember where I saw it. Which isn't much help. That other idea about adding two V-Slot sections across the top of the plate seems like a better idea and I'll look into it further. Thank for the heads up.
I was thinking maybe a 140mm x 160mm plate. You can't really cut anything greater than 140mm in they Y direction based on the available throat depth and you can't cut anything longer than around 125mm in the X direction due to the limited range of motion on the 250mm long X-axis but at least you will have more clamping space. If you want more X-axis range you'll need to increase the length of the X-axis. Increasing the throat depth to increase the Y-axis range gets a little more complicated.
Yes, your right about the Throat depth but I knew that before I started the build. But I already had most of the materials left over from the dismantled OX, thanks to my loving wife trying to make me live longer. As you brought it up the method of clamping had crossed my mind. By the time I've got a piece to work with plus the clamps, I'll be cutting something the size of a postage stamp, another reason to get a larger plate area. Anyway, I'll let you know what the outcome is. Thanks for the reply btw.
