Still thinking. I do have some of the ideas getting firmer. The overall size will be big enough for a 2' x 4' panel. To get the full cutting area, I will have to make it longer than the 4' so the offset of the router to the gantry will be within the cutting envelope.
I plan on all the bearing surfaces and the bearing carriers to be interchangeable. I will have to mock up some pieces once my metal order comes in. Right now, the rails for the bearings are right at 3" ( 85 mm) I can go a bit smaller to give me more room. The bearings themselves, I am deciding to either put them on a bolt with either a hanger bolt or glue a stud to mount them on. The number of them can be variable. At present I am putting just two on each end but it could easily have more pairs to distribute the load.
The table itself will be pretty deep. It is going to be a torsion box and the interior space can have two parts. One thing that comes to mind is to make a vacuum table for keeping things positioned. I probably won't because I don't have a vacuum pump or dust collection system anyway. Also, part will be partitioned off to house the electronics. Might as well keep it out of the way. Right now, I am around 8 inches deep for the base. That could be pretty nice for keeping things out of the way. I could even make it a storage box for parts or even house the computer in it.
The Z-Axis is a bit problematic. I will have to think about it some more. The model I have been working with doesn't look too bad but it does make for a lot of dead space on the end of the table. It doesn't really hurt anything to have that extra space. It can be used but just not for cutting. Maybe a monitor mount and keyboard tray?
I drew up another version that had rails on both sides but it looks like it doesn't really gain me anything. More thinking to do. If anyone has a better idea, speak up. I am open to suggestions.
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