I am really considering going with a rack and pinion for at least my Y axis (gantry movement, not head). Right now, I have a 5/8-.2 ballscrew reserved for the job, but ballscrew whip concerns me.
I believe with my NEMA34 motors, my machine should be capable of some decent rapids. But these leadscrews will need to spin at 1000RPM to achieve only 200IPM. I think that with the torque these motors have, they won't need so much mechanical advantage.
Yes I could buy a larger diameter/pitch ballscrew, but thats pretty costly. I think that for a lower price I could just buy rack and pinion.
One more advantage I can think of is that it would not be vulnerable to MDF dust, which I believe there will be plenty of
What are peoples thoughts on this?