Ball screws are out - too expensive, even with shipping from China.. or perhaps because of shipping from China. I was looking into Hiwin HGR-20 linear rails (20mm) and carriages for the Z axis, on account of the 40x40mm V-Slot. But the HGR20 is a bit too large, so I think I'm going to opt for the HGR15 (15mm) rails instead. I'm probably also going to go for 16mm metric lead screws and bronze flange nuts: 16mm (4mm Lead) x 1500mm Trapezoidal Lead Screws - Carbon Steel (C45): Accu.co.uk: Precision Lead Screws & Nuts Also, I think I'm going to have to fabricate (or have watercut) some larger corner plates. There's a few waterjet shops in my state, I'll see what they charge... Or maybe invest in a Plate Machine.
Long parts, tall parts, long and tall parts... I have no specific use case at the moment, though I will probably use it to print out large parts for cosplay, etc. For sale. A Filastruder + Filawinder is on my wish list...
Since I had to order 4 x 40x40 x 1500mm rails, I figured, eh... why not? I added a Plate Maker kit to the list... So now I can easily make my own plates as necessary.
40x40 V-Slot ordered on Thursday night, just a tad too early for the Friday free shipping. Quoted and ordered 4x HGR15 1500mm rails and 4x HGH 15CA rail carriages from Robotdigg, they had the lowest price at $300 for 4 sets. Other places on AliExpress had the same quoted anywhere from $420 to $750. Once I get the Plate Maker up and running, I'll be able to start cutting out all sorts of custom plates.
Added these print cooling ducts to the model: E3D Titan Aero Layer Fan Shroud for 50mm Radial by FDM_Guru I've never had any luck printing a cooling shroud without a cooling fan (catch-22), so I will probably get a set printed in SLS nylon or something. One pair in standard, another pair in mirrored.
Thanks for the feedback. I priced out SLS Nylon prints, and the lowest cost is about $20 per part, no supports required. FDM prints were less, but needed supports... I will try to print a set once this gets up and running... None of my printer carcasses are functional at this point.