Concept supported rail Z axis design

[Ross77]

Evening all. Heres my take on an easy to build and strong Z axis/carriage design when using supported rail.

Y axis beam is only a starting point and the ball screw is probably not in the optimum place but the main design points are:

• Distance from Y axis rail to cutter centre minimised (130mm with 80mm spindle) to reduce torsion on y axis bearings from cutting force and weight of Z carriage
• Simple design with minimum parts and therefore deflection.
• Z axis motor mounted on Y carriage
• Lower bearings wider spacing to increase rigidity and reduce racking on ballscrew (bearings travel through gantry sides so y axis can be kept short.

This is only a Concept design for bearing and rail orientation - final dims and size to suit cutting application

Z axis

16mm rails
100mm travel
80mm spindle (eg water cooled from ebay)

Y axis
20mm rails