[hamthis]

I think the counter weight idea is best. using pulley to pulley for the transfer. It would make the motor work easier too.

[kevincnc]

On a knee mill it makes sense. On a machine where it is on a z-axis that is whipping around in all directions it adds unnecessary mass to the system, and has to be precisely constrained in x and y. It aslo addes intertia to the z, and has a chance of bouncing during rapid accel/decels. If done properly it works, but IMO the brake is a better solution, especially on a higher performance machine.