RE: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Why dovetails?

On all of the Roland CNC mills, the table moves in Y and the head moves in
X/Z

http://www.rolanddga.com/products/3D/modelers/default.asp

The X axis and related supports are pretty beefy compared to the overall
size of the mill.

Pete

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 Pete Brown - Gambrills, MD (Near Annapolis)
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-----Original Message-----
From: David A. Frantz [mailto:wizard@...]
Sent: Saturday, October 16, 2004 9:20 PM
To: CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Why dovetails?


Hi Andras;

mandras76 wrote:

>
>Hi,
>
>I'm new to this group and in fact new to CNC machining altogether. I
>have some experience in wood- and metalworking, and am in the process
>of converting a Proxxon MF70 micro mill to CNC.
>
>

You will probally wonder why you bothered, if that is the mill I think
it is it is awfully small! This will especially be the case after you
have a large CNC at your disposal.

>In doing so, I'm dreaming of a larger mill already... I'm thinking of
>building one from scratch, rather than converting a non-CNC mill, let
>alone buying a CNC mill. Somehow I imagine that a design where the
>workpiece is at rest (or on a rotary table) and the spindle moves
>would be easiest and best. This would make the mill of my imagination
>very similar to a CNC router, only somewhat stronger and stiffer.
>
>

This may not be as unusual as you appear to think. There have been and
still are a number of machines wher ethe table that holds the piece only
tranlates one axis. There are advantages and disadvantages of
course. What I'm thinking about here are planner mills, hand tracer
mills of the past and other beasts that escape me at the moment.


[snip]