[hk344]

Hi there,

Sorry if this has been done before but trawling through all these threads is a nightmare and I never know what to search.

I am taking on the task of building a CNC router (2' x 2' 3-axis, with the intention of expanding to 8' x 4' and 4 axes once I've worked out the basics) and seem to have hit a bit of an end-pass.

With there being so many motion controllers out there its so hard to find one that fits the criteria I'm looking for. Has anyone had any good experience with a mach 3 (and preferably mach 4 too) compatible motion control boards available in the UK?

Don't want to have to buy another board with expansion so must be able to control 4 axes and limit switches. Ethernet or USB controlled, none of that parallel port rubbish.

Thanks.

[OlfCNC]

Hi there,

Sorry if this has been done before but trawling through all these threads is a nightmare and I never know what to search.

I am taking on the task of building a CNC router (2' x 2' 3-axis, with the intention of expanding to 8' x 4' and 4 axes once I've worked out the basics) and seem to have hit a bit of an end-pass.

With there being so many motion controllers out there its so hard to find one that fits the criteria I'm looking for. Has anyone had any good experience with a mach 3 (and preferably mach 4 too) compatible motion control boards available in the UK?

Don't want to have to buy another board with expansion so must be able to control 4 axes and limit switches. Ethernet or USB controlled, none of that parallel port rubbish.

Thanks.

You can get a UC100 (USB) or UC300ETH (ethernet) or UC400ETH (ethernet). All are compatible with Mach3/4 and with UCCNC.
In the UK:
CNC Cutting Machines - Stoney | CNC Router Systems
and
https://cnc4you.co.uk/

[hk344]

You can get a UC100 (USB) or UC300ETH (ethernet) or UC400ETH (ethernet). All are compatible with Mach3/4 and with UCCNC.
In the UK:
CNC Cutting Machines - Stoney | CNC Router Systems
and
https://cnc4you.co.uk/

Thanks a lot!

I've been doing a bit of research on these. Seems you need a breakout-board also? Is there any way of doing it without the BOB? If not which would you suggest?

Would the CP0-10V (https://www.cnc4you.co.uk/Breakout-B...th-Charge-Pump)be suitable for my purposes?

[OlfCNC]

Thanks a lot!

I've been doing a bit of research on these. Seems you need a breakout-board also? Is there any way of doing it without the BOB? If not which would you suggest?

Would the CP0-10V (https://www.cnc4you.co.uk/Breakout-B...th-Charge-Pump)be suitable for my purposes?

Some chinese boards are motion controllers and BOBs all in one but I think you don't want problems so better use something that works like the ones I have mentioned and use a BOB.
That BOB you linked looks OK.
You can move to UCCNC software with those motion controllers any time you want if you got enough from Mach.

[joeavaerage]

Hi,
I strongly support OlfCNC's comment regarding Chinese controllers....they are junk....DON'T GO THERE.

The UC300 by CNCDrive is a good recommendation, Ethernet connected, with Mach3 and Mach4 plugins and native to UCCNC software as well.
You do require a breakout board, the UB1 from CNCRoom is a very good example. There are cheaper solutions but would probably require you make a few
simple additional circuits. If you are kool with electronics you can save a few dollars by buying cheaper than the UB1.

Another brand that works well with Mach3 and Mach4 is the Ethernet SmoothStepper (ESS) by Warp9 TD. Also requires a breakout board. CNCRoom make a good example
a MB2. There again there are cheaper alternatives if you have some facility with electronics.

The Hicon Integra by Vital Systems is a very capable controller with both Mach3 and Mach4 plugins. The controller can be activated (at a cost) and/or fitted with add-on boards
to allow control of analogue servos for instance. A very capable board. It does not require a breakout board, it has industry standard 24V inputs/outputs. The basic Hicon
Integra is $600 USD.

Craig

[OlfCNC]

I almost forget that you can use the UC300ETH-UB1 which requires no breakout board: https://www.cncroom.com/interface-cards/uc300eth-ub1
It has industrial I/Os.

And if BOB, you can use the UCBB with 24V I/Os: CNCdrive - motion controls
I got one of these recently and it is simple to wire and works great.

[dharmic]

Thanks a lot!

I've been doing a bit of research on these. Seems you need a breakout-board also? Is there any way of doing it without the BOB? If not which would you suggest?

Would the CP0-10V (https://www.cnc4you.co.uk/Breakout-B...th-Charge-Pump)be suitable for my purposes?

Just moving away from the LinuxCNC FOSSdebate for a moment, I grabbed a 4/5 axis BoB for my UC400-ETH off eBay. Something like this one: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/302960358514. I wasn't sure how well it would last so, at that price, I bought three. When it arrived it turned out to use decent opto-isolators etc and I haven't had even a sniff of a problem with it.

The connectors to run out to the stepper drivers which you'll also need if you don't have any yet are available at RS Components, IIRC they're the JST XH type.

Can be run with either UCCNC or Mach3.

[OlfCNC]

Can be run with either UCCNC or Mach3.

Don't forget that it can run mach4 too.

[routalot]

Just moving away from the LinuxCNC FOSSdebate for a moment, I grabbed a 4/5 axis BoB for my UC400-ETH off eBay. Something like this one: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/302960358514. I wasn't sure how well it would last so, at that price, I bought three. When it arrived it turned out to use decent opto-isolators etc and I haven't had even a sniff of a problem with it.

The connectors to run out to the stepper drivers which you'll also need if you don't have any yet are available at RS Components, IIRC they're the JST XH type.

Can be run with either UCCNC or Mach3.

At that price,the OP might like to revisit his feelings about using a parallel port.You could buy a dinosaur computer or two and several boards for less than the cost of a Mesa board.Having bought the Arduino bits and pieces,but never used them,I have no idea about whether one of the Arduino solutions would allow such things as feed rate adjustments on the fly as I sometimes find this useful when my router sounds like it is struggling.This thread has been informative as I hadn't realised that LinuxCNC would be transitioning to Debian Stretch.I will have to dig around and see if the usual apt-get update command will do the job,or if I have to re-install.I suppose in an ideal world,the new solution would allow Freecad to be installed as that is the program I use for generating toolpaths and at present I have the choice of rebooting the workshop computer (its dual boot) or returning to the house to use my Linux Mint system.

[OlfCNC]

And when he start breaking expensive tools due to the dinasour computer then the price point quickly changes.

[109jb]

Having bought the Arduino bits and pieces,but never used them,I have no idea about whether one of the Arduino solutions would allow such things as feed rate adjustments on the fly as I sometimes find this useful when my router sounds like it is struggling.

Yes this is possible on Grbl V1.1. It has realtime feedrate, spindle and rapid overrides.

[routalot]

Have you looked at the Arduino based solutions?Come to that,have you thought about LinuxCNC and a Mesa board connected by ethernet? Looking around this site it seems that Mach 3 is getting a bit ancient and Mach 4 doesn't have as many proponents as you might expect.

[hk344]

Have you looked at the Arduino based solutions?

I have considered using an arduino, but ruled them out on the basis that its limited to 3 axes

have you thought about LinuxCNC and a Mesa board connected by ethernet?

Having done a bit more research, maybe you're right, Mach might not be the right way to go, but what are the benefits of using LinuxCNC over UCCNC?

[ger21]

but what are the benefits of using LinuxCNC over UCCNC?

It's free?

[OlfCNC]

Nothing is free in this world.
You need a card like the Mesa (OP said he does not want LPT ports) plus you need to set it up on Linux which is not easy, at least not for me and time is money.

[cyclestart]

but what are the benefits of using LinuxCNC over UCCNC?

It's free?

It's freedom ?

A hobby or low budget user has many options in 2019, it's good times.

[OlfCNC]

It's freedom ?

A hobby or low budget user has many options in 2019, it's good times.

It's about the same "free" if you go with LinuxCNC or UCCNC. You can do customisation with both and the cost is about the same if you go anything else than an LPT port.
LinuxCNC is only free if you go with an LPT port, but the OP stated he wants to avoid that so its no more free.

Yes there are many options today which is great.

[joeavaerage]

Hi,

You can do customisation with both and the cost is about the same if you go anything else than an LPT port.

The only complaint I've heard about LinuxCNC is not that its not good but to achieve the genuine flexibility that it is capable of requires
considerable programming skill. A number of CNCers have reported that they are unequal to the task.

All of the control software that I am familiar with (Mach3, Mach4, UCCNC, and LinuxCNC) do basic mill/router/lathe operations very easily
and without any customization required.

The real challenge, and where different software (and I suppose supporting hardware) starts to differentiate itself is when you come to a non standard
machine operation. Automatic tool changers are a commonly encountered machine specific operation for instance. The ease, or otherwise, with which
a tool changer can be programmed may determine what software is 'easiest' verses 'hardest'.

There are of course non-standard machines as well, or at least machines for which the common software do not have a prepackaged solution,
like surface grinders, cylindrical grinders, EDM machines and so on.

All CNC controllers that can be customized will require some programming skill....there is no avoiding that.

I personally have found that the Lua scripting language and modularity of Mach4 to be very flexible and less daunting than LinuxCNC.
Note also that Mach4 has a very extensive suite of screen editing tools which makes customizing the look of the controller very easy, a definite
boon to OEMs seeking to distinguish their product.

Should you require a substantially customized controller for whatever reason then you could easily spend hundreds of hours or more programming it,
does it really matter what the cost of the software/hardware is? Your time has/will cost far more than any of the software/hardware combinations
talked about in this thread.

Craig

[OlfCNC]

Should you require a substantially customized controller for whatever reason then you could easily spend hundreds of hours or more programming it,
does it really matter what the cost of the software/hardware is? Your time has/will cost far more than any of the software/hardware combinations
talked about in this thread.

And you break one expensive tool due to bad programming can be more expensive than any of the controllers we talked about yet, haha.

[cyclestart]

It's about the same "free" if you go with LinuxCNC or UCCNC.

I was speaking in broader terms. If the commercial entity behind UCCNC loses interest what becomes of it ? Other things have come and gone since I became interested in this hobby, Linuxcnc was around then and continues to grow now and is actively developed. As developers have come and gone from the linux project new ones step in to add features they want or need, an example being the trajectory planner Tormach contributed. Linuxcnc allowed them the freedom to do so. I'm strictly a user and contribute nothing but certainly benefit.

So when I said 'freedom' I was being a bit cheeky as there is more to Linuxcnc than 'free'. The open source software combined with the open source hardware trend will continue to gain ground imo, thinking here of projects like grbl and MachineKit.

Anyway this is starting to branching into the philosophical and not much to do with the original question. I'll only add it's good to see Centroid in this market, more options is a good thing.