Thank you all for the advice so far.
It seems I've had four step motors and a bunch of other hardware all along; stored away since the late 90's are two pen plotters I had used in a graphic arts business of which I was a partner. They're Calcomp Design Mates, Models 3024 and 3036. As I recall the 3024 ran well, the 3036 was always getting out of register and needed a lot of service calls. They ran on Windows 95.
I opened up the 3024, and saw that it has two beefy little unipolar steppers. They're marked;
STH-56D215
1.8 DEG/STEP 2.8V 1.1A
NO. 23552
SHINANO KENSHI CO. LTD JAPAN
They've got neat little circuit boards attached to their backs; the motor leads (8) plug into the boards and ribbon cables run from there to the main board. I have no idea what these circuit boards attached to the motors are for. In addition, there's a component which raises and lowers the plotter's pens which might be useful. Not to mention an abundance of other mechanical parts such as linear bearings mounted to pairs of rods, timing belts/cogs, etc.
So, I'm guessing that the motors, at least, might be useful. Also, the plotters must include drivers, which I might be able to use. Unfortunately, I haven't located the manuals and software yet. I have to believe that I could derive 2 axis systems from these components, if I knew how. Any ideas or comments?
Tom