New member lots to learn

[chillybo]

I'm not a model engineer. I am building the machine as a hobby and eventually manufacture some ideas to see if I can sell them as a sideline / hobby.

[AndyUK]

Welcome to the forum! Would love to see some photos of the machine.

I'm not a model engineer. I am building the machine as a hobby and eventually manufacture some ideas to see if I can sell them as a sideline / hobby.

Ignore that line - its a phrase that appears at the bottom of all his posts (a signature) - Seems to confuse a number of people!

[chillybo]

Work area is a bit untidy at the moment

[Clive S]

Work area is a bit untidy at the moment

Excuses It helps to see pics. Its not a good idea to have a belt joining the two screws and then using two motors . Either 2 motors or 1 motor with one belt over both screws.

[chillybo]

having difficulty attaching pics bare with me

[chillybo]

Hope you can see these pictures of my machine that i have attached.

[chillybo]

Its not freestanding yet i'm waiting for some box section steel to arrive.

[AndyUK]

Hope you can see these pictures of my machine that i have attached.

*head in hands* My mother-in-law has the same rainbow drawers - just seeing them makes me nervous about what her next 'job card' entails.

Looks like you've made some serious progress there - and your workshop is far tidier than mine I can assure you!! What are the dimensions of the machine? Looks like its got a decent amount of Z clearance.

As Clive mentioned though, you may find that a single beefier motor (I'm thinking Nema34 > 8nm) will be more appropriate with the belt drive. If they're physically connected, you won't loose sync between the screws, and you don't want to get into a situation where the motors are fighting each other.

Dropping the slave motor potentially frees up an axis and saves you buying another motor driver - it might also make a homing routine less confusing!

[chillybo]

Z axis travel is about 130mm. I can adjust the clearance by sliding the assembly up or down the gantry uprights (the benefits of extrusion). Ive built it so I can either use a belt as you suggest or slave it without any new modification. I think your right about using the belt. Only issue is I've only got 4.6 Nm Nema 34's. I could give it a try and see if one can move the gantry ok. If not Id have to splash out on a bigger stepper motor and then id have 2 spare motors.