[Gliderask21]

Hi

I am looking to get a router probably x600mm x y400mm x z100mm or thereabouts. Having searched some options there are a lot of USA units but shipping and CE etc may cause issues.

What I would like is peoples experiences/knowlegde with the different X axis drive methods I have seen from European manufacturers

1. Central screw driven by 1 motor, restricts cutting below the machine (ie placing on large panel)

2. 2 motors on the X axis driving each side, looks like lost steps would cause racking?

3. 1 motor on X axis to one side with a belt driving another screw on the other side, torque may be an issue driving 2 screws with one motor

All these configurations can use either rails or rods for the main support but it is the drive method that interests me.

Any help appreciated

[awerby]

locating the motor halfway between the two X-axis screws, and using timing belts and pulleys to drive both sides at the same time with jack-shafts. It's more mechanically complex, but electronically simpler, and it seems to work pretty well. I don't think it really takes twice as much torque to drive two screws mounted to the same gantry; it's perhaps more than required for driving a central screw, but the load (the gantry) is essentially the same. The extra resistance in the jack-shafts and additional bearings is the only additional load.

Andrew Werby
www.computersculpture.com

Hi

I am looking to get a router probably x600mm x y400mm x z100mm or thereabouts. Having searched some options there are a lot of USA units but shipping and CE etc may cause issues.

What I would like is peoples experiences/knowlegde with the different X axis drive methods I have seen from European manufacturers

1. Central screw driven by 1 motor, restricts cutting below the machine (ie placing on large panel)

2. 2 motors on the X axis driving each side, looks like lost steps would cause racking?

3. 1 motor on X axis to one side with a belt driving another screw on the other side, torque may be an issue driving 2 screws with one motor

All these configurations can use either rails or rods for the main support but it is the drive method that interests me.

Any help appreciated

[Gliderask21]

thanks Andrew, I hadn't thought of a central motor with 2 belts. All the ones I have seen have the motor on one side.