Upgrading from Steppers to Hybrid Steppers (servos) questions

Hey Everyone!

I'm a n00b to the laser game, but not to CNC machines

Let me say first my laser is a 900x600mm 100 watt Chinese machine. It's yellow/grey in color (does this even matter?) Has a Ruida controller and manual Z axis.

My question is does anyone have experience upgrading from the stock stepper motors to hybrid steppers & drivers. I'm looking to get some more speed out of my machine because of the higher power i need to engrave at a faster speed. I'm maxing out at 600 mm/s. It may seem fast but over a large its really not.

I'm not really sure what NEMA size my stock motors are but the measure 42mm squared with a 5mm shaft.

Also can I use one of the stock steppers and driver to automate the Z axis for auto focus?? I realize I need to add the sensor/limit switch to the laser head. Thanks for any advice or comments!

You should tell us what the drive mechanism is. Is it belt driven? Is it a screw drive? Maybe linear gear driven?

More speed means higher RPM. There may be limitations to making a motor spin faster.

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Originally Posted by maxspongebob

You should tell us what the drive mechanism is. Is it belt driven? Is it a screw drive? Maybe linear gear driven?

More speed means higher RPM. There may be limitations to making a motor spin faster.

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Sorry about that. The X and Y and both belt driven. The Z for the auto focus is a combination of chain to screw drive.

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Originally Posted by jjs4x4

Hey Everyone!

I'm a n00b to the laser game, but not to CNC machines

...........

I'm not really sure what NEMA size my stock motors are but the measure 42mm squared with a 5mm shaft.

Also can I use one of the stock steppers and driver to automate the Z axis for auto focus?? I realize I need to add the sensor/limit switch to the laser head. Thanks for any advice or comments!

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Those are NEMA 17 motors.
FYI

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Originally Posted by GEBrown

Those are NEMA 17 motors.
FYI

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Thank you!

How fast does it go now? You're saying it goes 1400+ inches a minute now and that's not fast enough? 600 mm/sec = 36,000 mm/ min = 1,417.32 in/min. Wow, that's fast for steppers , no?

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Did I do the math wrong?

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Originally Posted by nwrepair1

How fast does it go now? You're saying it goes 1400+ inches a minute now and that's not fast enough? 600 mm/sec = 36,000 mm/ min = 1,417.32 in/min. Wow, that's fast for steppers , no?

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Did I do the math wrong?

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I don’t think the math is correct. But I’d like to get somewhere around 800 mm/s would be good.

Math is more than correct,
600mm/sec = 36000mm/min = 1417,322834646in/min
800mm/sec = 48000mm/min = 1889,763779528in/min

Anyway it is very fast 36 or 48 m/min