I sympathise with the costs you might be looking at for precision ballscrews.
Check out Reid Tool Supply company. I'm looking at page 384 of the 2002 catalogue, and there are some rolled thread ballscrews in there that are worth serious consideration.
Even if all you want to do is hobby work, you'll still be glad you spent a little extra dough at the start, than to be disappointed later on when your hobby gets serious.
The other factors such as not being able to climb mill is a serious handicap, plus the extra feed power required to "conventional mill" is going to cost you more in terms of more powerful servos and drives. If you decide to go the stepper motor route, the chances of losing steps is significantly higher when conventional milling, unless you are using a closed loop feedback drive.
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First you get good, then you get fast. Then grouchiness sets in.
(Note: The opinions expressed in this post are my own and are not necessarily those of CNCzone and its management) |