m16 studding work instead of ballscrews ?

[irving2008]

hi ppl, im about to start my first build, it'll be a fixed gantry router with travel in x and y bein 500 x 500, it'll be mainly made from mdf for now (or whatever i can swipe from work lol) and used for cutting 3d into wood blocks, my buget is real tight so would m16 studding work instead of ballscrews (accuracy sacrifice i know but hey), an has any1 used rails made of ally angle with sealed bearings bolted to sides?

Studding will work, M16 will give you a 2mm pitch, so directly driven by a 200step motor will give you 0.01mm in theory, although realistically +/- .2mm over the length is about all you can expect... and about 20mm/sec traverse speed (about 30sec end to end on your design). Go for stainless steel rather than zinced - it works better...

You could use M14 at the same pitch or MarchantDice sell M10x2 or M12x3 reasonably cheaply

With all of these you need to consider how it will be supported bearing wise... usual low cost solutin is to turn it down to 8mm and use the 608 series skate bearings

You can use the same bearings on ally angle, there are several designs base on this approach.. another is to use 3 bearings on a round rail...