I am working on building a panel saw to cut plywood into smaller more manageable pieces. I wonder if i should use a ball screw type or a belt driven slide. I want it small enough to be able to put it on and off at will. maybe a stepper motor with a 20v. battery to operate it that is the same as the dewalt saw.
Truly, I'd go with a slide gantry counterbalanced with a constant force spring. Trying to automate this will wind up being more trouble than its worth.
I truly want to automate it even if it is troublesome to build. i have a big panel saw in my other building but want this to just cut a sheet down in size to make it manageable in a confined area. I have a spot against the wall where i store full sheets and it would be fine there. my big panel saw has a retracting cable that is spring loaded and it isn't very smooth.
