Originally Posted by
mrn
So this is my first CNC project, i'm a high-school student and i thought this would be really cool to make.
So I have a few questions.
Is have to have stepper motors or will regular dc motors work
[Regular DC motors will work, as long as you fit encoders to them so they can keep track of their position. Otherwise, they just spin out of control.]
I understand all the mechanical setup of the CNC but what im having trouble with is how to control it.
Can i just connect the motors by wire directly into the back of my computer in the parallel port? I've heard that if its wired wrong it will fry your motherboard.
But as long as I wire it correctly it should work right?
[No you can't do that. The parallel port only puts out 5 volts (at most), which is fine for controlling logic-level things, but isn't nearly enough for CNC motors. And yes, there's a good chance you'd fry something if you tried this.]
then is there some specific software that is needed to control this?
[Yes, most people here use Mach3 or EMC (now LinuxCNC).]
Ive seen some people who have a separate board or 'driver' i guess. Is this needed?
[Yes. Everybody using computers to control CNC machines uses them, not just some. You may be confused by something you've read (or watched videos about) where tiny servos are controlled by simple H-bridge circuits, but those are much smaller motors than are used in CNC machines. ]
also how can i protect my mother board from getting fried?
[Most breakout boards (which deal with the outputs and inputs to and from your computer) use opto-isolation to protect the computer.]
thanks guys
Note: i wont be using this to mill full on metal or aluminum or anything like that its just kinda a project to get my foot in the door so to speak, and learn how to build a one properly.