Something like this? Wish Openbuilds carried it!, it's hard to find. Probably cheaper to use 2080 from Openbuilds. Gary
Thanks Gary, So backstory time! I bought a SMW3D R7 kit from a guy on Craigslist for $650. It's an OK kit, and a darn good price but I'm very unhappy with the bed among other things. I have a bunch of 2020 and hardware laying around from another 3D printer monstrosity I bought from someone else on CL a year ago and ended up parting. I'm looking to take what I have, the kit, the 2020, the 2020 hardware and buy a few components and if need be fabricate a few plates to get something more like this. I work at Google and am on the tail end of a move so my time is extremely limited ATM but this is something that I intend to get to. I am very good with Fusion 360 and already have the CNC CAD imported. I have a friend with a Tormach and Google has maker-spaces with toys that I unfortunately cannot access ATM because of the pandemic including CNCs and manual machines. I think I want to redesign all the custom plates for the R7 to meet my needs and design a base with T-Slots for material hold-downs and later a vacuum holding system. I also want to address a simple coolant system, even if it's a basic mister. I don't know if the wheels of the V-Rail will work out for me. I have a small collection of linear slides but redesigning this to use them would be so much work I'd rather just roll a machine from scratch. I intend to do this later this year and am OK if this R7 based machine ends up being a B machine to do wood and foam and plastics but ideally I'd like to be able to do 6061 jobs on it in the meantime. I also have a Nomad 883 Pro which can barely do aluminum. I have been experimenting with more powerful spindle motors for it and think I will soon be at a reasonable place with that. Long story short, the big-*** motor I tried to use didn't work well enough for my needs there so I settled for the middle of the range one that will integrate with the existing electronics much easier. That machine is 8" x 8" bed with ever so slightly more travel so if I can keep the new plates under that size and use a small endmill and go painfully slow I can probably fab plates myself out of 1/4" or 1/2" 6061 pre-cut plates. The tool quality stuff that isn't bent out the gate. Still thinking through exactly how to attach the side C-chans to the base. I assume the front and back plates can be extended to bolt to the sides of some additional 2020. Not sure about the center beams though
That is a 3d printer??? For a moment I thought it was a CT Scanner for people! My printer will fit nicely in the corner of this machine and you wouldn't even notice it's there.
So I'm kicking around two options, the first is to use a bunch of 2080 V-Rail to make a bed, which I know will need bracing underneath to get decent rigidity, here's the (incomplete) CAD for that: The second option I'm thinking about uses these: Flat Aluminum Extrusions -No Shoulder- -Slot Width 8mm- | MISUMI | MISUMI I'm considering using only three of these to create a bed. I don't need wall to wall T-Slots. Having said that I'm unsure what to do between them. Maybe MDF cutouts or solid aluminum plates? Like the first option I would have to create custom front and back plates, and an underframe to get the rigidity. Looking for feedback as I've never done this before.
This is my personal opinion and YMMV. I don't think you'll need that much support for the MDF. The MDF is quite rigid. Three or four 20x20, or maybe 20x40, depending on the overall length of Y axis would be plenty rigid. Then put a 20x20 under each of the Y axis rails and one in the middle and you'll have no sag and it will be rigid. Just my $0.02
I found this webpage not any better price but all one bed. Not multiple pieces. Cast aluminum T-slot plates (cm)
Thanks Justin and Corey. I won't always have the MDF on the machine, sometimes it'll be aluminum sheet almost directly on the bed.
If you do that make sure you don't cut all the way through the material or you'll damage the bed. The MDF is there to prevent exactly this scenario.