Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Xylotex or Gecko step driver for my Mill/Drill?

shyningnight@... wrote:

>Sitting here with no money to continue BUYING parts to retrofit my Mill/Drill... plotting and
>scheming WHAT to buy when I DO have money...
>
>I have 3 stepper motors (courtesy Dan Mauch at Camtronics). I bought the "H34011__Step
>motor 680 oz in 2A 3.4. ohms" motors.
>
>NOW I'm looking at driver boards...
>My top three contenders were;
>Stepperworld.com's FET-3 board, but I ruled that one out because it's a unipolar only
>board.
>

Good move, as most unipolar drives are very poor performers at higher
speeds

>Gecko 201/210;
>They certainly have a good following!
>Reading the specs, I don't know which would be "better" for my setup, the 201 or the 210.
>What's the practical difference?
>
>

They are quite good. The only difference is that the 210 can REDUCE the
resolution
of the steps. The 201 is always a x10 microstepping drive, so it takes
2000 steps to
turn one full revolution on the standard 1.8 degree motor. The 210 can
operate
in x10, x5, x2 or x1 mode, taking the same 2000, 1000, 400 or 200 steps/rev.
The only place this is a problem is when software-generated step pulses
can't
go fast enough to reach the desired speed. Some software doesn't
present much
of a practical limit, others may be. The only reason this comes up with
Geckos
is the x10 microstepping, plus the fact that the Gecko 201 is capable of
spinning
stepper motors WAY faster than many less advanced drives. (I was demo-ing a
150 Lb minimill at NAMES last year with the motors running up to 1440 RPM,
delivering 90 IPM on that machine.)

>The Other leading contender is the Xylotex 3 axis board..
>Again, good following. Considerably cheaper than buying 3 Gecko's.
>
>Keeping in mind;
>1) I'm an electrical idiot... hookup instructions with nice clear pictures and using small
>words are preferred, and
>2) This Mill Drill will be used for steel and aluminum parts, but I'm happy to be patient and
>take LIGHT cuts if necessary.
>
>Which of the two (Gecko201/210 or Xylotex) would be "better"? Or in this case, should I let
>price decide? I admit, I would PREFER to NOT spend the extra on the Gecko's... but if that's
>what it takes to build a decent system, I WILL.
>
>

As I have not used the Xylotex, I can't compare. With your 2A motors,
there may
be little difference. If you were to find the performance of those
motors inadequate,
however, you couldn't swap for a higher current motor if you went Xylotex.
With the Gecko, you could go up to 7 A on the motors. (On the other
hand, you
probably wouldn't have much trouble reselling the Xylotex board.)

Jon