Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Where to begin choosing Stepper Controller for Mill Drill?

Hi Paul,

speaking as a similarly poor enthusiast ( every purchase must be cleared by
the financial control dept or wife as she is more commonly known)
Here is a question for everyone out there whilst i am on, I can see the
obvious benefits of a cnc mill why does my wife keep comparing it
detrementally to a new kitchen???!, what is a new kitchen going to do as
aginst a the existing perfectly functional one??. Am i right!? but i
digress. :-)

I have got a Hobbycnc board which works great but and here is the big but,
only upto 1.25amps unipolar only (and it only halfsteps), depending on the
size of your machine you may need more power than that, if this is the case
you could do alot worse than the Xylotec 2.5amp bipolar controller(up to
1/8th steps!), i have it running a Cobra Type mill (actually a better built
Micromill but looks the same) on double stack size 23 bipolar 2.1amp motors
and it wizzes it along! ( all thanks to simplycnc.com).

The Xylotec is £116.00 complete which makes it a very good value as far as i
am concerned.

Software is available in may forms the choice is wide but as has been
mentioned here before Mach2 is brilliant for XP, however if you want a cheap
pc/laptop to run a DOS control you might consider Turbocnc which, for what
it is, great as well and is only $20!.

The choice is yours.

Nick

----- Original Message -----
From: <shyningnight@...>
To: <CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Monday, April 19, 2004 1:16 AM
Subject: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Where to begin choosing Stepper Controller for
Mill Drill?


> Help! I don't know where to begin!
>
> What I want to do: Turn my Mill-Drill ( 7"x18" or thereabouts) into
step-motor driven
> CNC.
>
> What I DO know how to do: convert to Ballscrews (although I want to do
that LAST.. I've
> lapped the acme screws and adjusted out almost all backlash.. it runs
smooth, and I'm
> POOR).
> I know how to mount stepper motors, etc.
> I know the mechanicals.
>
> It's the leads off the steppers... there's where I get clueless!
>
> I've got a vocational degree in Machine Tool Technology... and I spent two
years learning
> how to program a Bridgeport Boss 8 control... but that was 12 years ago,
and I'm lucky to
> remember the difference between G00 and G01. I'm perfectly comfortable
re-learning
> Gcoding for 90% of what I want to do. Yeah, CAM softare is great.. and
I'll do it eventually,
> but to START, I just want to run some fairly simple cuts that I can code
myself.
>
> Somebody please check me here...
> What I THINK I need is this;
> A PC (of course) with a parallel port.
> One of a large variety of software packages to send commands (from my
Gcode) out the
> Parallel port to a controller (for example, DeskNC for Dos).
> That said controller I know darn little about.. I've seen ads for the
$3000+ setups from
> MicroKinetics and AhHa!, and then I've seen kits from LiniStepper and
HobbyCNC, and
> finsihed units from StepperWorld for under $200 for all three Axes.
>
> Somebody please throw me a bone here... How do I tell which kind of
controller to use?
> (OTHER THAN it has to be capable of handling motors of sufficient Oz-in..
that part I
> got...).
>
> Given a PC, and something like DeskNC or similar software, what needs to
go between the
> parallel port and the Stepper motors?
>
> I'm not afraid of solding things to boards... as long as I have good
instructions on what
> goes where...
>
> Any other gunsmith/machinists with very little electronic knowledge who
can recommend
> some INEXPENSIVE parts to retrofit my Mill-Drill to 3 axis (or 2 and half
axis, and I'll add
> the "other half" later) , I'd be grateful!
>
> Paul F.
>
>
>
>
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