Quote Originally Posted by AutoWiz View Post
Except for how noise and vibrations just love to travel through metal. Plastic has a dampening affect akin to rubber in the world of NVH. And a metal frame needs to have a medium between the rods/rails and the frame and also as feet under the frame. Or even with the silent drivers running in the most advanced form of stealthchop available will still be noisy. Because as rigid as metal can be, it also loves to carry vibrations. Just a thought for some of you young'n builders to consider. I personally love a quiet machine. However because the linear rails bolt directly to my aluminum extrusion, my Multi Widow is still louder than it was with the rubber v wheels on the aluminum extrusion. Metal is great. But it is far from the be all - end all of building materials especially for something as light duty as these 3d printers. Let us all always remember, metal structures that aren't dampened suck. They make noise and in most applications live a shortened life. For CNC we want all metal because we need strength and also because CNC equipment doesn't live in a person's home. And noise levels in a shop are always a secondary concern. I am just saying the best things in life are purpose built and thought through. All metal construction just sounds like an uncontrollable noisy mess to me.
I agree it could end up ringing like a bell but I think this would be reduced by your advice of rubber feet. As for print quality I dont think the vibrations and resonance would be large enough to leave any marks within the print itself as the mass and rigidity is a lot larger than the head moving around as it would be so light weight in comparison to the frame.

You could even put plastic or rubber isolation/ dampening mounting plates between the motor and the frame if this was needed to reduce the noise.