After building the first side, I just repeated the operations for the second side. I had cut all the plywood at once in the beginning to make sure the dimensions were identical, using the same saw setup. Next step was to drill and tap all the holes in the aluminum bar stock for the long X rail mounts. I followed the same process as detailed earlier to make sure the rails were straight and aligned properly.
I made plywood stepper motor mounts and bearing support mounts, all from the same birch plywood stock that I’ve been using for everything on the machine. Here you can see the left and right sides of the frame, along with the rails placed on top. The ball screw assemblies are in the center, but they will be mounted to the outer portion of the frame sides.
Here is a picture of the completely assembled Z axis attached to the Y axis. The only parts missing are the linear bearings that will be mounted to the bottom of the gantry.
It’s looking like a CNC machine!