[dcrowder79]

Hi all - first post!

I'm looking at building an Oozenest kit of the Openbuilds Ox and have been looking into the electronics required. I've read so much info both positive and negative and now I'm just baffled

I've been looking at the various controllers on eBay - like the TB6600 and TB6560 - they seem more my price range but have read bad reports about stepper drivers and don't know if this is affecting the newer models.

Can anyone recommend a reasonable set up of 4 axis controller - steppers etc - that is affordable yet not going to require me to learn how to use an oscilloscope and is pretty much ready to use?

I'm looking at a 2.2kw spindle and would like to be able to have mach3 compatibility. I'm also in the UK if that makes any difference.

Cheers!
:cheers:

[ger21]

Gecko G540 or Leadshine MX3660/MX4660

[Dan911]

hello dcrowder,

The TB6600 is a drive controller, you will need 1 of these for each axis(stepper) to control along with a BOB board. The TB6560 is a driver board, this will control only 3 axis(steppers). This site is loaded with tons of info for newbs like you and myself. The search button will be your the best help. My suggestion would be start looking(googling) 4 axis electronics kit.

Good Luck,
Dan

[wizard]

Hi all - first post!

I'm looking at building an Oozenest kit of the Openbuilds Ox and have been looking into the electronics required. I've read so much info both positive and negative and now I'm just baffled

There is no perfect solution for any machine. If you don't have a strong background in electronics it might be a good idea to buy a turnkey system.

I've been looking at the various controllers on eBay - like the TB6600 and TB6560 - they seem more my price range but have read bad reports about stepper drivers and don't know if this is affecting the newer models.

Those are stepper drivers and pretty poor ones at that. The controller is the bit of electronics that drives the motor drivers.

Can anyone recommend a reasonable set up of 4 axis controller - steppers etc - that is affordable yet not going to require me to learn how to use an oscilloscope and is pretty much ready to use?

Probiotix. Camtronics, inc. -- CNC with Dan Mauch. Flashcutcnc.com. Tinycontrols.com. https://cnc4pc.com/control-box/cnc-s...ntrol-box.html. Pmdx.com

These are all examples of companies with turnkey CNC solutions. Note that turn key doesn't mean you can get up and running without effort, rather these companies have all in one boxes that greatly simplify a machine build.

As it is I've never used any of these, however I have talked with the PMDX people at Cabin Fever and have been impressed with there knipowledge and the quality of their components. Plus there are more than a few builder of machines with PMDX controls at Cabin Fever. So while I have no personal experience with their controls I'm impressed with their knowledge and apparent quality.

I'm looking at a 2.2kw spindle and would like to be able to have mach3 compatibility. I'm also in the UK if that makes any difference.

Location doesn't make much difference. However from what I can see of that router you would be wasting money trying to put a 2.2 KW spindle on it. Most of the pictures have a little Colt router installed on the machine and frankly I doubt it could handle a 2HP router much less a router spindle rated at 2.2kW.

I don't know of a local (UK) builder of control systems. I'd strongly recommend getting comments from actual users of the control you want to implement. If you don't have an electronics background building the controller yourself may be more frustrating than you want to deal with. Just don't think that a turnkey system will suddenly work for you without considerable tuning and setup effort.

Cheers!
:cheers:

Happy New Year.

[dcrowder79]

Thanks for the great advice guys! I'd been a bit confused it seems

Ger21 I'm looking at the Leadshine kit right now - what info I've found has been positive.

Wizard - those are very nice set ups but unfortunately out of my price range so I'm going to have to wing it and hope I can do it. I managed to learn drones pretty quickly so fingers crossed I can manage cnc

Dan - Thanks too... forums like this are one of the best things to come of the internet since it arrived yet it seems to have gone under the radar!

[dcrowder79]

well that is odd - I posted a reply and got a duplicate of my first post :-/