Been a lurker for quit some time and have not seen done what I want to try.
Want to build a gantry router with approx 2-3 feet wide and 3-4 feet long cutting area. Will be cutting wood, mdf , plastic and maybe very thin copper, brass, aluminum. Nothing that will require close tolerance. Woodworking specs will be close enough.
I had a local guy do some cuts on his shopbot. After watching it in action I was impressed with the system. Looks like a machine that would be easy to fix if anything went wrong on it and not cost much to fix. So I’m thinking I want to try rack and spur gear. Reasons for the this is price, and it would be an easy way to extend the y-axis if I need to in the future and still use most of the current parts.
I want to mount the racks on both sides of the y-axis. I was thinking of mounting a dual shaft stepper on the bottom cross member of the gantry that will be under the cutting table. I would mount the motor so I could connect shafts from both ends of the motor that would have the spur gear mounted on each end. I would use a spring action to keep the gear in contact with the rack like on the shopbot.
I’m thinking there may be a big negative on the way I want to mount the stepper to drive the y-axis as I have not seen it done. Any comments on why I should not try this would be welcome, as I’m not going to get many chances to change in midcourse and buy something else if it does not work. I’m had to do a lot of talking to the “money manager” as it is.
12-25-2006, 10:43 PM
Linear Mode
