Hi there,
I am doing some experiments to test various parts of a gantry router desing. The router is a fixed gantry moving table type.
The table (y axis) is fairly heavy and the rails for the table are only supported at the ends. The rails are 16-20mm in diameter, and they span a gap of 450 - 490mm.
When I put a dial gauge on the rain and load the table onto the rail it bows the rods almost 0.5mm for the 16mm rods and 0.2mm for the 20mm rods.
How much bow is not a problem with the sort of work people are doing?
Are people facing items the size of the whole table, therefore a bow in the sheet of this much would be noticable? Or is the small area they are working in at any one time sufficiently close together that the height in the z axis is not a problem there.
Or does the sheet metal bow up from stress relieving more than this anyway.
Are they any ways around the problem without resorting to supported rails along their whole length.
Could wheels be used to take some of the table weight off the rails.
Can a parabolic correction be made in the mach 3 software to compensate for the table (making everything a 3 axis move).
Can the table be milled by the machine itself to automaticially correct for the bow.
Any ideas.
Need more details just ask. No pictures yet though, sorry.
the travel is approx 12" x 12" (XY)
Dom