[vacpress]

I have been thinking about using a stepper motor and rack and pinion for my next project. I want speed. I have figured it down to NEMA 43 motors possibly directly driving the pinion on the rack... I know there may be problems with this setup, but i have seen it done well on shopbot machines, and on the beautifull machines in "budcan's" photo gallery. Anyhow, what I am wondering about is gear heads for steppers and their backlash, cost. I may just use a larger motor and do it direct.. My machine is to be 3x3ftx6-8".


Anyone know anything about this? Should I bite it and spend the $$ and time on doing a friction cog\belt and tensioner instead?

I plan on having the drive pinion, connected directly to stepper or not, on a spring-tensioned "cam" that will hopecully remove most of the backlash that may otherwise..

advice?

[esmiller]

Vacpress,

May I ask which way you ended up going? I am trying to decide myself.. problem is.. my motors have 1/4" shafts, and table has 5/8" shaft.. can't find pulleys bot sizes which use same size belt.. must be out there, but haven't seen it yet...

Eddie