[wizard]

You have gotten a lot of good advice here but the one point that has to be stressed is that you need to know and understand how your expectations impact the machines design!!! It isn't enough to say it is a hobby machine. The best way to avoid grief thatbuilding the wrong machine causes is to think long and hard about what you want the machine to do. Then educate yourself about what is required to get there.

Being hobby or DIY, often the real challenge is balancing a budget against what is required to get the results you want.

Hi Olf, I didn't check the manual, no, just what I've read on here and I've seen a few YouTube videos, but I will check it now thanks for the info...

Peet - I like a challenge and although the BuildBotics looks great,

When it comes to electronics there are many suppliers, some of which are hard to find on the web. You have the likes of PMDX on one end and Centroid on the other. There are many vendors competing with these guys.

If your electrical / electronics build abilities are weak, or for that matter time is a problem, I’d suggest buying hardware that is either a complete product or at least a partially built subsystem. The PMDX 340 is an example of a box that greatly reduces wiring effort. The problem here is that it is likely too small (driver capacity wise) for a CNC of your size. Do consider similar solutions from other vendors like Gecko. I’m suggesting these sorts of prefab solutions because you don’t appear to be ready to do a CNC controller build at a high level of detail. You still need to do a DIY controller but your effort is minimized.

I had really wanted to learn a bit more about the Electronics side of CNC as that's what I know least about so using this would take the challenge away somewhat.

Well this is where you need to decide if you want to build a CNC or learn the electronics. Both are possible but do realize that learning the electronics side of the tech will take time. If you want to learn about the electronics side of things it would be far cheaper to buy an Arduino, a shield and steppers and drives. If you really want to learn the electronics I’d suggest that it makes sense to spend some time with an Arduino and learn about the electronics there. There are a couple of reasons beyond cost too. For one the whole point of the Arduino is to educate people with respect to embedded electronics and software. It is a good learning platform. Another reason is the breadth of knowledge you can obtain that will make understanding CNC electronics easier.

Cheers again Ger, for your help.

I find myself agreeing with Ger most of the time he offers good advice.

This post though has me wondering which is the higher priority here, learning electronics or building the CNC? In the end either is a worthwhile pursuit I’m just not sure learning the electronics while building a CNC makes sense. At least not the basic concepts that drive the electronics world. There is enough stuff online that you can cover basic electronics in a month or two of study and experimentation. Look for the old Navy training manuals for electronic techs. That series combined with the Arduino info online can really beef up your electronics knowledge.