I’m trying to cut wooden gears with much finer teeth then capable on a cnc router. I’m testing accuracy on junk plywood at 80mm diameter and 60 fine V grooves. The gears look good but when cutting a pair and then aligning gears (face to face) teeth are offset 1/2 tooth from one side to the opposite. The machine doesn’t doesn’t seem to be loosing steps. See image.
I’m using an under $10 nema 17 stepper for the X axis. I’m also running a standard XL belt with .2 pitch and 20 tooth pulley. Over time it really takes a beating (probably from engraving) and is getting very hot. The stepper has 4 heat sinks attached to it. It was no longer smooth so I took it apart and found the resin in the rotor seems darker, probably due to heat. Also, the X axis belt wasn’t as tight as I’d like it to be.
Anyway, I cleaned the machine, replaced the stepper, tightened belts and all the teeth line up now. Not a permanent solution as I’d really like to find some nema 17 motor/driver combination that wouldn’t get so hot, and yet not loose steps.
