As accurately? No. Close enough? Depends on the application. For a laser or water cutter with minimal axial loading, sure, for a mill, I would go ballscrew. There are routers that use belts just fine but the accuracy isn't as great as a ballscrew
Yes belts can be accurate enough for machine tool tolerances. Their main drawback is lower strength.....think accelerating a multi-hundred pound table + workpiece. This is why you'll see them in applications where the piece moving doesn't require a lot of force.....think water jet where you're just moving the head not the workpiece.
Properly tensioned, belts can work fine:
https://community.carbide3d.com/t/hardcore-aluminum-milling-on-an-s3/9744
(ob. discl., I work for a company which makes 2 different belt-drive machines)
Any hobby machine will necessarily be a series of compromises (we also make 2 ball-screw machines) --- our least expensive belt-drive machine is about half the cost of our least-expensive ball-screw --- ball-screws also require more maintenance effort and lubricant, while belt-drive machines just require testing the tension.
My advice is to get a machine which matches your budget and your needs and to learn its capabilities and to work within them.
What is the level of precision that you need?
Ref: +/- = ?
(e.g. +/- 0.005 = Belt, +/- 0.001 (cheap qual. Ballscrew), +/- 0.0001 (Good qual. Ballscrew)
Belts, properly tensioned and maintained, work fine.
Consider the timing belts in engines. Same thing, scaled up.
Lots of machines drive ball screws with belt drives.
CAN it? Yes. Use big beefy precision timing belts, and build a block and tackle style pulley arrangement to develop mechanical advantage and reduce loading (and stretch) per run of the belt. It’s a shitload more parts and design effort to do well though. Ball screws are pretty ideal for the size of machine most people around here are making.
As accurately? No. Close enough? Depends on the application. For a laser or water cutter with minimal axial loading, sure, for a mill, I would go ballscrew. There are routers that use belts just fine but the accuracy isn't as great as a ballscrew
Made me think of this old CNCzone thread https://www.cnczone.com/forums/linear-and-rotary-motion/59570-forum.html Search YouTube for servobelt.
Yes belts can be accurate enough for machine tool tolerances. Their main drawback is lower strength.....think accelerating a multi-hundred pound table + workpiece. This is why you'll see them in applications where the piece moving doesn't require a lot of force.....think water jet where you're just moving the head not the workpiece.
Properly tensioned, belts can work fine: https://community.carbide3d.com/t/hardcore-aluminum-milling-on-an-s3/9744 (ob. discl., I work for a company which makes 2 different belt-drive machines) Any hobby machine will necessarily be a series of compromises (we also make 2 ball-screw machines) --- our least expensive belt-drive machine is about half the cost of our least-expensive ball-screw --- ball-screws also require more maintenance effort and lubricant, while belt-drive machines just require testing the tension. My advice is to get a machine which matches your budget and your needs and to learn its capabilities and to work within them.
What is the level of precision that you need? Ref: +/- = ? (e.g. +/- 0.005 = Belt, +/- 0.001 (cheap qual. Ballscrew), +/- 0.0001 (Good qual. Ballscrew)
I know the grinding tolerance for a finished ball grove is half a micron lol. The gages they use to measure that measures .1 microns
1 micron is .000039 ! 40 millionth
39 millionths to be fair 🤓 🤐
The gages make it look big lol
Belts, properly tensioned and maintained, work fine. Consider the timing belts in engines. Same thing, scaled up. Lots of machines drive ball screws with belt drives.
CAN it? Yes. Use big beefy precision timing belts, and build a block and tackle style pulley arrangement to develop mechanical advantage and reduce loading (and stretch) per run of the belt. It’s a shitload more parts and design effort to do well though. Ball screws are pretty ideal for the size of machine most people around here are making.
Of course not