Quote Originally Posted by phooddaniel View Post
Quite correct. There have been some interesting ways to stop wild whipping of lead screws, but the expense and efforts are generally futile. Rack and pinion, timing belt and roller chain seem to be the best methods to move at long distances. I have tried with great success both the roller chain (at #40 size) and timing belt. My intension was to try to eliminate as much mechanical backlash as possible and these two really do the trick. Rack and pinion, although the best for the longest distances, can still exhibit some backlash due to the possibility of space between the two gears. Backlash is almost eliminated since the roller chain and the timing belt are both tensioned and the drive pulley/sprocket are fastened to the motor.

By the way, thanks for supporting the efforts over at buildyourcnc.com. This is my first post on this site.
phooddaniel,

Welcome to MyCNCUK.

I note from your site you achieve 1500ipm rapids on BlackToe, thats pretty impressive!. What cutting speed do you generally recommend?

What size motors do you use for the X-axis to get these rapids and what is the gantry weight on your BlackToe design? Assuming you drive it from MACH3 can you say what acceleration values you have set up for cutting and rapids?