Originally Posted by dertsap  the electronics is usually the bulk of the cost and you already have that .
slide cost will be minimal if you use the diy skate bearing slides and if your building an mdf machine then a chunk of mdf is $20
you can use ready rod for leadscrews which is dirt cheap until you can upgrade
the relay board is just to have the computer control you router on/off rather than having to turn the router on manually ,its only gravy and its not necessary |
I probably dont need the relay board now because the router would be on most of the time it's running any ways, and the relay board was more important for the plasma system.
I guess I understand the basics of how the machine opperates because of the dynatorch but that is also a servo system. And also the majority of the cost is in the electronics and then drive system.
I need to figure out if i should go with a lead screw drive, rack and pinion(i think that is whats on the dynatorch) belt drive, or a chain drive. Would anybody be interested in letting me know the advantages / disadvantages of these drives and what all is involved in gearing it down?
Also I'm not sure what size table I want to build yet either if that factors into any of the drive systems as well. Thanks again.