[connexioneng]

I have a custom 3 axis CNC router that uses Avid's standard rack and pinion drives and linear motion. I am having trouble with keeping my gantry square, especially when the head is off to one side or the other. It seems to want to bind up and when I return it to home, it is off by several .100". It almost seems like the motors aren't powerful enough and could potentially be missing steps.

Any thoughts or suggestions on what could be happening?

Here are some details of my setup and I have attached a few pictures:
>Nema 23 Motors (425oz.in) motors all around
>Dual motors on the gantry, one on each side; slaved.
>Microstepping at 10x
>Open Loop
>The overall travel is approx 48"Y | 48"X | 8"Z
>Mach4
>I do have a routine that squares the gantry during homing

[Al_The_Man]

[QUOTE=connexioneng;2535138. It almost seems like the motors aren't powerful enough and could potentially be missing steps.

Any thoughts or suggestions on what could be happening?

>Nema 23 Motors (425oz.in) motors all around
>Dual motors on the gantry, one on each side; slaved.
>Microstepping at 10x
[/QUOTE]

As a general rule, there is a reduction in torque when micro-stepping is used.