Originally Posted by
martinw
Dear Dan,
For what it's worth (probably not a lot), I looked into belt drives for a small CNC MDF frame 3 axis router last year. Like other people, a belt drive on both sides of the main bed seemed a good idea.
I came to the conclusion that the stretch of the belts under dynamic loads might be a bit of a problem. This was partly because I found it quite hard to relate manufacturers' figures of belt stretch ( if indeed they gave them) to the forces involved in a machine that accelerates etc.
Kipper is absolutely right, by the way, that open-ended belts are hard to find in the UK. You people on the other "side of the pond" do not know how lucky you are compared to us in "rip-off" Europe.
Best wishes
Martin