Avid CNC Benchtop Pro 2424 vs. Axiom Basic AR4 Rigidity
I'm in the market for a new CNC router for milling plastic, wood and some aluminum. After weeks of research I have narrowed down my selection to the Avid Benchtop Pro 2424 and the Axiom Basic AR4 and am trying to figure out which machine is more rigid. I'll be installing an Acorn controller, 24k spindle, and servos on either of them so they would be equal from those aspects. The way I see the pros for either machine right now are:
Axiom:
- Welded steel base, which should generally be more rigid than the Avid's aluminum extruded/bolted base, although the Axiom's steel beams look a bit thin on the pictures
- Higher weight instills more confidence in it being rigid
Avid:
- Sturdier looking gantry
- Dual drives for the X axis rather than the single drive on the Axiom
Can anyone speak for the rigidity of either of these, ideally someone who has seen or worked with both?
Re: Avid CNC Benchtop Pro 2424 vs. Axiom Basic AR4 Rigidity
I went with the Avid in the end. I realized that all of the Axioms have a pretty bad design (in my opinion), where the entire aluminum T-slot table is only held up at the ends by the steel frame and the gantry rails are mounted on the underside of the aluminum table. This leads to the table sagging towards the middle under load, along with the gantry. Worse yet, the table is divided into several slats that are again only connected on the ends, meaning the outermost slats which have the gantry rails attached will sag to a different degree than the rest. There is at least one post on Axiom's forum that complains about this.