Suitabilty of recirclating ball linear slides with cnc routers (wood cutting)

[twombo]

Big "Dust Up" over at MIMF.com regarding the suitability of linear slides on wood cutting cnc routers. What is the concensus over here!

There are several pretty knowledgeable CNC "Gurus" over there that kinda dominate the discussion, but a whole bunch more collective experience over here.

The implication is that linear slides won't pan out over the long term.

The IGUS "Dryline T" slides mentioned do look intriguing too!

Whaddya think.

Here is the link.


http://www.mimf.com/cgi-bin/WebX?50@...E1@.ee8152a/27

[buscht]

twombo, From my experience, 90% of the high end CNC wood cutting routers are sold with THK recirculating ball linear slides.

We run our machines (4 of them) two shifts per day 6 days per week with no problems.

Maintenance says to keep the bearing greased, wipers in good condition, and most importantly, at least twice per shift, remove any buildup of saw dust on the slides.

[pack rat]

I had to go to MIMF.com home page and do search for CNC . I located that particular discussion and there are some valid points about THK. I think also that my plans of using Thomson supported linear rails is overkill when there are people using skate bearings and get satisfactory results and more money in the pockets. I have read of people having similar concerns of bearing getting clogged with wood dust but many run them dry. I have not read of any failures of THK or too frequent cleaning of bearings. I always overbuild, so I guess I'll do it again.

[ger21]

Our Masterwood Machining center has been running over 5 years for 5 to 8 hours a day with no problems. The bearings do get lubricated automatically, but we haven't had any problems at all. And there is a LOT of dust.

Gerry

[twombo]

Looking good!!! I'm hearing good feedback from people with real time experience. Confirms my preconceptions as a maintenance guy... Nothing beats good maintenance.

On the second question; anybody out there ever use those IGUS Drylin T slides? Looks like an interesting alternative. The load carrying and accuracy numbers look pretty good if adequately sized for the dynamic forces.

I intend to keep my recirc units.... but ya never know... might just build another machine sometime (LOL)!

[balsaman]

I use thk rail and slides. No problems so far, but I haven't got any long term experience with them, other than where I work, we use them in the WORST environment, and they seem to go and go and go.

E