[Jandyman]

Hi,

I'm seriously considering purchasing and Avid Pro 4x2 frame (and probably motors) as the basis for a build. I can do the electronics and SW and build a table suitable for mounting a dust enclosure, which I prefer to using dust shoes. It looks the least expensive way to get into this class of machine. I want something stiffer and more accurate than my old Zenbot 2448. In addition to lack of accuracy caused by the unsupported rails that the gantry runs on, I just can't cut hardwoods very fast because of flex and oscillations in the frame.

I'd love to hear some reviews of the Avid Pro. It look well designed for my purpose. The ball screw on the Z axis seems bulletproof, the gantry looks very stout. It's got linear rails instead of the cheaper setups with v-wheels.

I'm sure there are good reasons they used a rack and pinion drive instead of ball screws, but I guess that's my main question mark. What are the tradeoffs? Are there any downsides to the rack and pinion drive?

My main application is building bass guitars and related stuff. In addition to cutting wood, I would like to experiment with some light work on aluminum or machinable brass for some components.

Thanks for help in advance.

[ViS-motion]

The Avid machine is of course better in terms of rigidity, but it still remains in the class of routers with all the shortcomings...


Rack and pinion are cheaper, you can reach higher speeds compared to ball screws, but there is almost always backlash.


This machine can perform well in various types of cutting of different materials. But milling aluminum or brass is not for this type of machine.


It’s just not clear how it is controlled... what kind of CNC controller it has...

[harryn]

The forum has a section on musical instruments in case that is interesting.

https://www.cnczone.com/forums/music...-construction/

[harryn]

Some time ago there was a mfg that was building cnc guitars with a hass cnc mill - so an extremely rigid platform.

He was building using both hard woods and aluminum IIRC but I can't remember the details.

The finish right out of the machine was incredible.