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Thread: Drive help!!

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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Posts
    14

    Drive help!!

    Hello everyone,

    I am new to your forum and new to CNC and I am hoping you can help me. I built a 36 x 24 machine and I am a little unsure of what I should be using to drive it. I have Mach 3 on a computer running Windows XP (like I was told I should)I will primarily be cutting wood and a little bit of aluminum. I was going to run this setup but it seems really over priced to me, even when it was a 3 axis kit it was the same price. Is there a drive setup that is equivalent for less money? Or one that is a little more plug and play? Any advice you can give would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance


    http://www.cncrouterparts.com/4-driv...-kit-p-75.html
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails cnc.jpg   cnc.jpg  
    Last edited by guitarded; 08-22-2019 at 10:07 PM.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2018
    Posts
    362

    Re: Drive help!!

    Have a look at the complete wired and "ready-to-go" offering at Plug and Play NEMA 23 CNC Control System - CRP800-00E-5 | Avid CNC | CNC Router Parts

    This includes motors, cables and control electronics. For the price it looks hard to beat if you source all your own components, enclosure and then add the time and effort to put it all together and make it work.

    Mach-3 is getting a little dated with no support. Check out UCCNC at https://cncdrive.com/UCCNC.html

    Cheers,

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
    Posts
    1516

    Re: Drive help!!

    They are Leadshine, you get what you pay for.

    This is more like it for me:
    https://www.automationtechnologiesin...t-48v-7-3a381/
    Not quite plug and play and need to get cabling.

    I have no problem with the Wantai stuff off ebay but they only supply 36v psu's for power so can't get the full beans from them.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Posts
    1206

    Re: Drive help!!

    What will be the mechanical drive system? The pitch of the leadscrews or the reduction ratio of the pinion drive and attendant belts will have some bearing on the necessary torque from the motors and hence their power needs. Additionally,there is no real benefit to be had from a set of powerful steppers if the spindle is a Dremel, or clone of one, without the power to shift lots of stock quickly. I admit to buying a kit from Long's motor for much less because I wasn't sure I would be able to make a machine move without letting the magic smoke out due to my inexperience. It worked out in spite of the sketchy documentation and cost me a lot less than the examples linked to.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2018
    Posts
    6254

    Re: Drive help!!

    Hi Guitar - look at

    buildbotics - plug and play very good up to date controller and driver, all in for $450USD just need some motors so try,

    stepperonline for motors etc Peter

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Posts
    14
    Thank you he1957 but that is way out of my price range. That's more than it cost me to build the whole machine. The link I put up was from CNC router parts. They told me to run that but the price they are asking seems very high
    Last edited by guitarded; 08-23-2019 at 07:31 PM.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Posts
    14
    Thank you Dazp1976. Those are some serious motors
    Last edited by guitarded; 08-23-2019 at 07:31 PM.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Posts
    14
    Routalot- Acme lead screws 1/2-10 thread form, with 5 starts travel 1/2" per rotation. I got all my linear travel parts and drive parts from CNC router parts and would also go with what they selected for me for motors and what not but they are way out of my price range.
    Last edited by guitarded; 08-23-2019 at 07:32 PM.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Posts
    14
    How are Zen Toolworks products?

  10. #10
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Posts
    3920

    Re: Drive help!!

    You have said little about the machine you actually built. This is a huge factor as to what will be suitable. A beginners wood framed machine might not benefit from higher end controls.
    Quote Originally Posted by guitarded View Post
    Hello everyone,

    I am new to your forum and new to CNC and I am hoping you can help me. I built a 36 x 24 machine and I am a little unsure of what I should be using to drive it. I have Mach 3 on a computer running Windows XP (like I was told I should)I will primarily be cutting wood and a little bit of aluminum.
    I’m with others here Mach 3 is getting very long in the tooth. There are more DIY CNC solutions than at anytime in history, you can go extreme low end with GRBL on an Arduino all the way up to advanced platforms like LinuxCNC, Centroid and others. There are many offerings in the middle.
    I was going to run this setup but it seems really over priced to me, even when it was a 3 axis kit it was the same price. Is there a drive setup that is equivalent for less money?
    Well the cheapest is probably salvage and low cost stepper drives. If you can dig up the parts a controller can be built for a couple of hundred.
    Or one that is a little more plug and play? Any advice you can give would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance
    If you want plug and play; look for a copy of Digital Machinist, several companies advertise there. Plug and play cost money so take that into account.
    That wouldn’t be plug and play. In any event what makes sense for you machine is highly dependent upon that build.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Posts
    1206

    Re: Drive help!!

    I haven't seen any information regarding the previous woodworking experience of the OP and it would be quite helpful to know a little more. An experience router user would have an idea of the force that makes a hand held router slow down and as its applied by human muscle could get an approximation by a bit of experimenting.The original package of parts looks more than powerful enough for the work envisaged and the online calculator at https://www.daycounter.com/Calculato...lculator.phtml should give an idea of the force that will be applied to the gantry and spindle.

    The whole package will work and need very little additional information.Mine cost me about a third of that and it works,but getting it to work was a challenge.I continue to be surprised that people still buy Mach 3 when Mach 4 is the current offering and also when free alternatives like the Arduino based controllers and LinuxCNC are out there.I suppose the other side of that is that there are lots of users of Mach 3 to offer advice.I would caution that staying with an older system may only delay the need to update.I don't know what the maximum operating speed of Mach 3 is but I do know of one or two older controls that can only receive files at a 9600 baud rate.I even know of one shop where the very rugged and durable machine from the eighties is programmed in DOS! Surely a candidate for a controller upgrade.Which sort of leads to the likely lifespan of a machine running XP-will there be motherboards and memory available that is compatible with XP when the current components fail?It will probably be a good way to put a toe in the water but do think ahead before you find yourself with a non functioning box and a need to do something different.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Posts
    35538

    Re: Drive help!!

    Mach3 does run on Windows 10. You aren't limited to XP with it. I still don't recommend it any more, though.
    Gerry

    UCCNC 2017 Screenset
    http://www.thecncwoodworker.com/2017.html

    Mach3 2010 Screenset
    http://www.thecncwoodworker.com/2010.html

    JointCAM - CNC Dovetails & Box Joints
    http://www.g-forcecnc.com/jointcam.html

    (Note: The opinions expressed in this post are my own and are not necessarily those of CNCzone and its management)

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Aug 2019
    Posts
    2

    Re: Drive help!!

    Hi, have a look at the cnc kits from STEPPERONLINE, https://www.omc-stepperonline.com/cnc-kit, the price seems reasonable.

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