The slightly less poor man’s CNC fourth axis

Redesigned the pm4a by ZenziWerken for 9mm plywood. Then I figured I could use a cheap mini lathe chuck from China with a 10mm Z011 axle. The stepper motor has moved inside the box so the bearings align properly to the bearing seats on the shaft. There is room for a 40mm stepper motor maximum. Since gripping power of the chuck is probably the limiting factor I don’t think this will be a problem.

Parts and materials used:

• 9mm plywood
• 2 6000 2RS bearings 10x26x8mm
• Stepper motor nema17 max 40mm long
• Z011 shaft and chuck (M12)
• Spur gears 15 and 60 teeth printed in PETG (or any other strong filament) with 100% infill

Alternatively a belt drive could be used instead of gears. I haven’t tried yet but a 15t and 45t with a +/- 188mm belt should fit.

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Update 08/04/2021

• Fixed a little error with slots being not properly aligned.
• Added the live center holder parts
• Todo: better naming the parts

Update 03/2021

• Updated the holes for the bearings so they fit more tightly. Added a new design for the 60t gear. The one in the picture doesn’t have sufficient hold on the shaft and would slip.