Re: Other Driver Solutions?

I've had bad luck with my MaxNC mill so I am looking for a different drive system.  Ideally it would run small hydraulic motors which won't burn out in an overload like steppers.

HUH?  Stalling a stepper will not burn it out.  The current to a step motor is constant, set by the driver, and won't increase when stalled.  Now, totally crummy step drivers may blow transistors when the motor stalls, and that could then damage the motor with excess current.  You might try Gecko G251 drives for smaller motors or the G203 for larger ones that need more current.  They will greatly improve performance, too.

Hydraulics were an insane, Rube Goldberg stopgap measure when electronics was in its infancy, and you will not find any commercial machines with hydraulically-actuated axes today.  Putting hydraulic motors on a desktop mill is one of the most insane ideas I've ever heard.  Do you know where to get proportional hydraulic valves?  They will run about $5000 new, PER AXIS, and you are not likely to find used ones, especially in the size you would need.  You are also not likely to find hydraulic motors designed for servo axis use in the size you want.

Have you actually had a stepper burn out from an overload?  Or did you have a drive fail and ruin the stepper, and you assumed the stall was the cause?  (I will say the old MaxNC stepper drives were QUITE awful, RL-type drives.)  There are much better drives and controllers.

Jon