Rubber belts get loose over time and can cause backlash and inaccurate cutting, says CNC Factory Director of Operations Chris Corrales in the video above. Worse, they require periodic retensioning for maintenance. To avoid these, look for 5th Generation (5G) CNC machines that use rack and pinion motors for consistent and absolute positioning.

 

"In the mid 90s, CNC manufacturers started using rubber belts to increase the speed of CNC routers - making them fast enough to cut wood and plastic using ballscrew on all axes. The problem with rubber belts is that it slacks and all axes start running a little different as they stretch during use."

 

"Now with 5th generation CNC, the advanced servo drives simplify and remove so much old technology and mechanical parts and wiring out of the equation, allowing CNCs the most robust torque, speeds, zero backlash, constant monitoring and no homing - or performing of daily machine calibration."