[Jgorm]

All,
I'm looking to make a kind of proof of concept rotary axis to hook into my cheap langmuir 2x2 crossfire cnc plasma running Mach 3. My goal is to somehow mount a 18" diameter x 2' long 10g stainless cylinder on a rotary "x" axis and use the y axis with an extension of the opposite side of the table. My thought was to use a couple bearings and a 1" shaft, then use a belt and pulley system to create the rotation. Speed and cut quality is a low concern right now. Price is a moderate concern and is like to keep it under 500 if possible. I'm comfortable fabbing the mounts and shafts, but I'm looking for advice on what stepper and gear ratio i should use. The total rotational mass will be 30-35lb. I understand that will have substantial rotational inertia the stepper will have to deal with and I'm ok slowing everything down. Accuracy is important only down to about 1/8 - maybe 1/16". Any recommendation on the stepper, gear ratio, belt width and type, and if I'll need to use a new stepper driver or if i can "borrow" the crossfire x axis when i need the rotational axis will be much appreciated.