>3. What is the best "inches per minute" to aim for? Is >100"/minute really best? Doesn't that limit you so you can never >go over that? Why not set it for 150" or even 200", then just tell >the software to make it go slower?
Nothing wrong with 300 imp....
>I calculate my ending torque after a 60:1 reduction to be >94247.77 oz-in. That is not only ridiculous, but a little scary!
It doesn't matter if you go with a leadscrew or rack and pinion. With your motors the final force will be the same, regardless of how you get there, presuming you use all the available rpm to get there.
I don't think you need to reduce enough to use all the rpm of the motor if you don't want to, but it makes the most efficient use of the motors power to do so. You have lots of power, so use two steps to get 25 to one or so. 5:1 and again 5:1. Even 15:1 will work fine I would guess.