Hey there guys,
I have a homemade CNC that I built a few years ago and now one of my dad's friends would like me to build one for him as well. I am designing it all out and it is all coming together very nicely. I have one concern though, the material. My last CNC was aluminum plate based and though very rigid, was also very expensive. The CNC I'm designing is relatively small 21"x21x4" Z and though aluminum would certainly stiffen up the machine and add professionalism, I think in this case, it may be a bit much. The user would like to cut wood and maybe (maybe) aluminum.

Attachment 235256

The parts I need to cut out will be those side triangle shapes, the back gantry, and the under gantry. What would be a cost effective alternative to aluminum in this case? Some kind of hard wood or even plastic maybe?

Triangles: Roughly 14"x8"
Gantry: Roughly 6"x 29"
Gantry under Roughly: 6"x29"

For my aluminum supplier, I can get it at around $4/lb so anything cheaper than that will certainly be considered.

Thanks,
Max Kauker