Thanks for the replies fellas. My better gearboxes are Thomson Nema-Tru's with 0.22 degrees of backlash. With a 1000 line encoder, this is better than a single line on the encoder disk, for all intents, at least with my machine, 0 backlash.
I need to do some math and figure out what the top speed will be with my system. The inertia will certainly go up, and the ability to accelerate rapidly will drop, but of the three axes, if I was going to hobble one of them, I'd pick the Z. One other benefit of a gearbox is that they can be easily retrofitted to a currently direct-drive axis. No elaborate mods needed, just detach the servo, add the gearbox, modify/change the coupler, and go for it. Much easier than retrofitting for a timing belt.
I wish my Thomsons were more like 5:1... 10:1 may be too slow. This is going to be for my new Gilman box spindle which is heavier than I thought. :frown: |