I really like the belt driven nuts. I wanted try that on my build but decided against it for my first build. For a first or even 3rd design i think you did great. That said, I think you need to work on it some more.
I'm not sure if I'm fully grasping your design, but the way I'm seeing it, your spindle will be dropping down from the middle correct? I'm not seeing it upside down? If this is right side up, I'm curious why you have so much room above your z axis?
It looks to me you'll only have a z travel of maybe 2 inches. That would limit your choices of tooling bits a good bit. No pun intended :P
I see you are considering driving the Y axis from one side. Even with a cable support system, you'll be robbing your steppers of power. It can work, but why start with an inferior way of driving it? Steppers are cheap. My suggestion would be to either drive it from the middle (not possible with this current design) or drive it from both sides (the best option for all builds). You could also drive it from the middle useing belts but why waste stepper/servo power...
Lastly, it's a closed box. Which will limit the length of your stock. Consider opening the front and the back.
My last question would be, how do you plan to make this and out of what? I'm not talking about the rails and such but am really asking about the framing and supports. Will you be wielding it together or bolting?  |