Welcome to the Maslow forums! It’s great to see you taking interest in this project. Depending on your needs, this could be a very useful tool. Keep in mind that this machine is not intended for production work at this time. It simply doesn’t have the power and feedrate to keep up with commercially made machines. Some of this is fixable, some of it would require redesigning the machine.
I myself am still in the building phase of my machine. Like you, one of my first thoughts for improvement is a steel frame. If you’re handy with a welder, this is a fairly easy albeit time consuming task. I have spent weekends and occasional weeknights working on mine since the beginning of July and I just got to the mock up phase:
Exploded view of my SolidWorks model for reference:
I am curious what your ideas are for modifying the base. There is a Z-axis add-on for the machine that would give you this functionality if that’s what you’re looking for. If you haven’t already, you may also want to read through @bar’s thread about modifying the sled. He has a very good idea for simplifying the math involved with the sled.
I also have been planning out electrical enclosures. So far, I’ve made one for the arduino and motor shield with my 3D printer and some spare electronics I have sitting around. It’s nothing like the production machines’ cabinets I deal with at work, but it’s a start. I am also thinking about a vented plywood box for the console that runs the whole thing.
I hope that I was able to give you a little insight to building a steel Maslow, and maybe shared some ideas 