El Beast - Initial design phase, comments and critique welcomed!

[Zeeflyboy]

So chaps, been a while...

Good news is the work stuff is all done with and I got the promotion so happy days - work on this project can soon resume!

While I've been away I've been thinking about designs though (hard to turn off the brain sometimes!) and I was keen to get my ideas for a better z-axis down on paper so to speak. Spent most of yesterday modelling and this is what came out... I'm actually thinking of scrapping my current design and going with this one instead right away as it is in my opinion much improved.

I would love to get some feedback, opinions etc while I'm still refining the design. It's pretty much mostly there, just a few details such as limit switches and grease points to sort out.

It reuses the ballscrew/nut and a few other components from the old design, but will require new rails/carriages.

Headline changes:

- 2:1 ratio belt drive (25mm HTD 5M) to isolate the Z-axis stepper from the hefty vibrations and also give it a better gearing advantage for the now pretty heavy Z-axis.

- Extended rails/front plate which now results in a permanently sealed/protected unit at all positions

- HGH25HA carriages (the size is more convenient) spaced much further apart in all directions for improved rigidity

- Rear mount HGR-T 25 rails for easier installation (increased size also will improve the rigidity of the Z-axis front plate when extended down).

- Ability to tram the entire axis while mounted with only the need to remove the bottom plate to do so.

- Marginally more compact with a reduction of 5mm in stick-out from the X-axis.


will share more details when it's completely finished, but as mentioned I'm keen for any input in the mean time.