Well, while surfing last night, I found a site that mentioned HEXAPOD designed 5 axis routers. Shortly afterwards I had managed to find a slew of information about these things.
Benefits are said to include no sliding parts, and simplified construction, but with the down side of increased processor power being required.
So, has anyone ever built one of these hexapod systems? They look ingenious. Supposedly they offer 5 or 6 degrees of freedom, and the equivalent to a 5 axis router system, but with the stability of a fixed spindle.
It's an interesting way to think "outside the box."
I've tried to include a picture from one of the sites, but unfortunately it's too big. Here's a URL.
http://www.hexel.com/hexabot.htm
-- Chuck Knight