Greetings- this is my first post, so I'll do a brief intro before asking pertinent questions.
I've been searching/following this forum for several months now, and just officially joined today.
I'm not a machinist by trade (organic chemist) , just a tinkerer, and after hanging out with a friend who manages a machine shop, I've come to understand the power of CNC. My friend offered me an old bridgeport for $500, but I had to turn him down, because I don't have the floor space in my garage, nor the availability of power to run one- even with a VFD/phase converter, I'd be stretching the old electrical service in my house. The problem is that him offering me this machine got me obsessed with obtaining a milling machine...
This has brought me to researching mini-mills, benchtop mills, etc... I already own a Grizzly 7x12 lathe, and have quickly learned the abilities and limitations of it, so I wanted to get the largest machine that will fit in my workspace. I decided on and ordered a PM-25MV because it has a few features that I want (belt drive spindle/brushless DC) and didn't have what I don't want (stand).
I've poured through many threads, and spent several hours researching CNC conversions, but am left with a few questions.
-I'm looking at 570oz/in steppers for X and Y, but am not sure what I will need for Z axis... I'm a bit unclear as to whether a 570oz/in would be suitable for Z axis or I need to use a NEMA 34 motor.
-Does the PM-25MV use the same ball screws as the G0704?
Software/hardware- I'm a little foggy on the way Mach 3 or other software interface with the controllers... Does it use a parallel port to plug directly into a C10 Breakout board, or do I need a smoothstepper board? (unfortunately all of my computers run windows 10, 64bit).
Thanks!