Has anyone thought about just mounting two routers to the x-axis, with different tools in them, and then switching between them with two iot relays? It seems like this would still weigh less than the spindle, and could provide a poor man’s ATC…
As I sit here now the main thing I worry about is that the cutting forces could apply side-loads that might reduce accuracy…
Would this work?
Tool changes are the least disruptive part of the process. You’ll loose so much doing that.
Just produce. That will be fast enough.
Hello professor,
I have thought about mounting a slave gantry connected to the real one on the x-axis to have double laser capacity but haven’t gone past the initial idea. I have questions that I need answered first and the time and money to go and step beyond the daydream.
I bet two routers will work fine too, but you are daydreaming a different beast. I like the idea a lot. Poor mans dreams are always inspiring.
There are several problems in trying to do that. The obvious issue is tool position. Does the controller have provisions to compensate for the offset between the two tools? When you switch to router two, since both tools can’t occupy the same position, your software will have to know where router two is in order to get the router into the same position as router one was in. The controller needs to know the offset in x,y and z and automatically adjust the carriage to reflect that offset.
You would need separate motors for the Z axis for each router so that one router could be lifted out of the way when switching tools.
To sum it up - it’s way more difficult then what you think. There is a reason why an ATC works the way it does.
Also, two tools is better than one tool but what amount of jobs only require two tools?
I agree with CrookedWoodTex re tool change being the best option.
Besides that, you would loose working area in the X direction.
I do have a Laser mounted on my Router mount but it doesn’t reduce X axis distances.
In gSender you can program in the offsets when using a laser mounted with a spindle/router.