Worth fitting dual Steppers to Y axis on a 6040?

If one was to look to improve ones' 6040 in regards to cutting Ali, do you think it would be useful to convert to dual Y axis Steppers?

I know the Gantry isn't that wide, but do you think it would benefit from the Mod? Would do other mods at the same time. Convert to Linear rails, thicker Gantry plate, Ali plate bed......

Maybe the effort in time and money would not justify the improvement? Maybe it would be too difficult to do?

Just thinking out loud.....:D


Steve

I recently repaired and upgraded a machine with those round rails. Made his y-axis dual drive and it made a huge difference :)

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Originally Posted by ericks

I recently repaired and upgraded a machine with those round rails. Made his y-axis dual drive and it made a huge difference :)

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Thanks Erick.
Was it a 6040 or larger?


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It was larger...

After some testing on mydon't think you'll get much improvement by upgrading the Y-Axis on the 6040. The fully supported rails on the Y-Axis, in combination with there being 4 linear bearings (SBR16U), makes for a decently rigid base.

I've tried flexing the Y-Axis moment and I don't see any deflection (push on one side of the gantry and pull on the other).

How much do you see on yours? Have you checked the SBR16U's are adjusted correctly? There's a small set screw on the side to set pre-load.

I'd focus on rebuilding the X and Z. Those are unsupported rails and flex significantly.

My 6040 was eight years old when i sold it, used it a lot during that time. The first upgrade was the electronics and the spindle motor. Never did any structure upgrades but made sure everything was lined up and set up properly. Always found the single drive on the y-axis lacking....but it worked well enough to make parts for a big machine. These machines are obviously built to budget....Rather than try and upgrade it mechanically i would build a rigid unit from scratch

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Originally Posted by pparrett

After some testing on mydon't think you'll get much improvement by upgrading the Y-Axis on the 6040. The fully supported rails on the Y-Axis, in combination with there being 4 linear bearings (SBR16U), makes for a decently rigid base.

I've tried flexing the Y-Axis moment and I don't see any deflection (push on one side of the gantry and pull on the other).

How much do you see on yours? Have you checked the SBR16U's are adjusted correctly? There's a small set screw on the side to set pre-load.

I'd focus on rebuilding the X and Z. Those are unsupported rails and flex significantly.

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Thanks....The X Axis is definately the worst offender... Not sure I'd bother with the Z seeing as the axis is so short.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ericks

My 6040 was eight years old when i sold it, used it a lot during that time. The first upgrade was the electronics and the spindle motor. Never did any structure upgrades but made sure everything was lined up and set up properly. Always found the single drive on the y-axis lacking....but it worked well enough to make parts for a big machine. These machines are obviously built to budget....Rather than try and upgrade it mechanically i would build a rigid unit from scratch

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Thanks Erick....Yes, hard to justify a re-build when I could just make a new machine from ground up....we will see.....
Maybe I could use the 6040 to build the big machine and then use the big machine to upgrade the 6040, and then......lol