Re: Hot-wire CNC Foam Cutters

John,

That all depends on the friction/binding in the machanism of your
machine. In a good clean setup the lifting of the bow is the most
work the machine has to do and many people counter balance it to
eliminate the bow's weight. The actual cutting of the foam doesn't
increase the load on the machine because the foam melts before the
wire touches it. My machine runs on nema 17 size steppers rated at
about 50 oz/in and can rapid at about 60 inches a minute.

You should check out the CNCFoamcutters
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CNCFoamcutters) group there's a lot of
info there.

Regards,
Mike

--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com, "johncrad" <John.Craddock@x>
wrote:

> Hello all,
> Can an expert please advise what size stepper motors are generally
> used on 4 axis CNC foam cutters. Looking at the photos and jpegs,
> they seem to be pretty small. Some are can types. Probably no more
> than 15 to 20 oz-in hold torque and max speed seems to be about 4"
> per minute. Would these numbers be right.
> TIA
> John Craddock