[Bejamin]

Hello all, as the title suggests I’ve been thrown into the deep end with a long ago started project by my boss. Basically he started building a CNC plasma table, then got pushed aside and forgotten about as more important projects came up.
I have little to no knowledge around these things, and trying to pick up from where he left off rather than starting from the beginning is sending my head into overdrive.
Starting with the table, it’s a 52” x 64” bed, and currently has 3 x 3.0A 300oz stepper motors and rails installed. I’ve been tasked with finishing this off and getting it working. Trouble is, I’m not sure exactly what I need to get and what can be paired with what items. There’s 2 motors controlling the X axis and 1 motor controlling the Z axis.
Would I be right in thinking I can use a single 6.0A driver to control both motors with one being in reverse phase or would I need two separate drivers to run them independently? Then the Z axis being controlled by a single 3.0A driver?
That’s pretty much where I’m at at the moment, and after spending hours looking at all the drivers and PSU combinations, I really don’t know what matches to what.
If anyone has a link or could offer me any insight as to some faq pages or starter pages rather than trawling through the depths of google it would be much appreciated.

Sorry for the long post, and more than likely stupid noob questions!

[ger21]

Would I be right in thinking I can use a single 6.0A driver to control both motors with one being in reverse phase or would I need two separate drivers to run them independently?

No, you need a separate drive for each motor.

[he1957]

Search this forum and view some of the many topics on machine builds. There are many examples so gather the common points and compare to what you have and what's missing. Depending on how your Boss thought he should build that machine and how far he got you might have either a good day or not.

Was he following a plan or some design in his head? Parts lists? Design and usage criteria or did he think just having one would be a cool idea; for starters.

Good luck!

[Bejamin]

Search this forum and view some of the many topics on machine builds. There are many examples so gather the common points and compare to what you have and what's missing. Depending on how your Boss thought he should build that machine and how far he got you might have either a good day or not.

Was he following a plan or some design in his head? Parts lists? Design and usage criteria or did he think just having one would be a cool idea; for starters.

Good luck!

Thanks for the replies, from what I can make out he had it in his head, but it would seem he got that far and looked at the electrical side of things and just abandoned it. Now expecting me to finish it, with no coding, or CNC machining experience at all.
Well that's answered one question about the drivers at least, as he was under the impression you could run two motors from the same drive!
From what I've read I take it it's going to be a long suffering road from here on, and it's not going to be a case of giving him a list of components and it all working.

[awerby]

So you've got 4 motors altogether, right? 2 for X, and one each for Y and Z? Do you have 4 drivers, or any drivers? Do you have a breakout board, to sort out the inputs and outputs? And a power supply? And a desktop computer to run all this stuff? Those are the major components of a CNC machine with dual motors on one of its axes. It would be helpful to find the specs on your motors, especially inductance, so you can provide enough voltage to run them as fast as they need to go. I'd suggest looking into a Geckodrive G-540, which combines the breakout board and 4 drivers. It will take 50 volts, which probably will be enough to overcome your motors' inductance (although it would be good to check that). .This power supply would work for that combo: PS-5N48 - 500W 48V Power Supply - AnTek Products Corp

The other thing you'll need is a torch height controller. These devices sense the voltage of the plasma torch and drive the Z axis, so the height above the work stays consistent, despite irregularities in the surface or variations in how the workpiece is positioned. Here's an example, from CandCNC, which sometimes participates in this forum: https://www.candcnc.com/wordpress_cn...tup-Config.pdf