Am I missing something?

info.host@... wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> I'm curious as to where I'm making the mistake here. I have spoken to FlashCut a few times and was considered buying their cnc controls for a Sherline I may have in the future. I picked them out initially because their site looked like what I'd be getting would be good quality but they have quoted $1895 for their kit. That does not include the mounts which are an extra $200. With that you get the FlashCut software, the signal generator, the three steppers (@135oz/in), the driver and all the bits like a manual and the cables. The driving system puts out 2 amps per axis, I don't think they mention steps per revolution or anything to do with that. But I can buy the steppers for say $150 each, that's $450 for all three. Buy their mounts for $200 to make it $650. Then I could buy a GeckoDrive G201A for $149 and it'd be $800. That must then make the cables, manual and controller worth $1095. How much would a controller to suit this sort of thing cost? Or have I made some massive
> mistake somewhere.

You'll need THREE Gecko G201's (instead of one), and you'd need
an (up to 80V) power supply to drive the Gecko's optimally, which would
increase your cost a lot above the $800 you mention.

Using Gecko's to drive a Sherline or Taig is either 'going first class', or 'going
overboard' depending on the depth of your pockets. Especially since the
Gecko G201 is a 1/10 microstepper and the leadscrews are 20 TPI. Together
that means incredible (mostly meaningless) resolution and not having
very fast rapids using a very fast computer.

However, this approach might be ok if you have an eventual plan of
trading up to bigger and bigger mills, in which case the expensive part
(the Geckos and the power supply) is transferable to the heavier equipment.

Doug Fortune
http://www.cncKITS.com