LaserUser.com Forum (formerly RDWorksLab)

Nema 23 based drive with a looped belt. Four 2x2mm pitch lead screws near the corners and a pair of 3D printed tensioners as below. With the wider bed I might look at adding additional supports if needed but that can be done easily later.

Spent my budget plus some more to get all of the fasteners, rails and the steppers on the way. The best thing I guess is the bits remaining to buy is now a shorter list than the bits purchased. Shame the short list is worth more than the Red list

A few of the larger ticket items won't be needed as I have a shop compressor for air assist, cooler will be a diy solution from a commercial refrigeration unit and at this stage I plan to double use a 2hp dust extractor wil a few blast gates to the outside rather than through the filter.

Just about finished building my 1200 from Rob @ Further Fabrication.
I used his designs and then added my own tweaks so he did all the hard work. The build was pretty painless despite COVID and long waits for parts from China, but ebay came to the rescue for those parts.
It is only being used as an oversized plotter at the moment as I am waiting on the Tube arriving but..... It's alive and calibrated!

Nice job too @Neil

For those considering or those that have a set of plans there is a Farcebook Group to go along with them. Much as I have been off FB for 3+ years I signed into this one at least for the time being with a 'spare' account. https://www.facebook.com/groups/FurtherLaser

I suffered thru a lot of the FB forum [have never gotten happy with the format on FB and avoid it except for a couple of forums] simply because I love laser talk. I did notice one fellow talking about a jackshaft instead of two steppers motors and I am in agreement... but you already knew that.

I agree Farcebook like Discord and other endless list sites SUCK for technical discussion as things get buried in time. It leads to re asking of the same questions again and again. It still happens here too

Looking at some of the more recent posts there is what looks like insufficient tightening of the rollers for a start on the gantry and also it seems it might be setup not on the outer most holes on the plate so not a Stepper issue entirely, I didn't buy into it as it is now a few days old. Adding a lay shaft later isn't insurmountable with this design, just drop a flexible coupling in it should be easy if needed. I am still building without initially. If needed or I think it worth the effort then linear rails across the Laser can be added if needed too rather than the Wheels and V slot..

So I am more than a little pissed off. The Farcebook Moderator removed a post of mine and associated feedback and content by the members. This heavy handed approach has seen me remove my wiring diagram and post from the group too.

While Nick Ellson in particular remains a Moderator I can not endorse it as an appropriate place to discuss any subject at the risk of summery removal to preserve his Castle.

I'm building a customized Y400 version (slightly different dimensions). Rob's design looks good so far. The only issue I see at the moment is that it can just barely fit the smallest tube without an extension box (well you know, aesthetics )

The real advantage of Rob's design is that you can pretty much easily move it to a different place. Just unplug everything (electronics will be in separate box) and move.

I know this is an old thread, but I'm new here.

Out of curiosity, Roughly how much would it cost to build either one of these following he's part list?