Hi to all, and thanks for any help you will be able to give me!
I purchased a FLA Saturn 2, 4x4 with NEMA 23 steppers from Nate about 18 months ago. I bought the controller through Nate but its from CNC Router Parts. I am running Mach 3, and am using cut 2d to generate code. I attached the photo just in case that helps.
Once I got the machine, I connected all the cables, and moved the axes, but that's where I stopped; had 2 kids, got busy at work, etc...
Anyways I would now like to finish setting it up, so I can begin cutting.
I am so new at this most assuredly my questions will be laughable.
Here's where I am so far. I bought and installed limit switches from Nate, they sometimes work and sometimes do not.

  • So that's my first question, any thoughts on why the limit switches only work intermittently.
  • Second question: should I worry about hard limits, or set up soft limits, and only use those?
  • Third question: I need to square the x to y axis, is the best way to do this to follow the CNC Router Parts video?
  • Last question: it's very rare, but twice now, when I moved the Y axis (along the parallel rails) there has been a "click". Do you know what this is and how concerning it may be.

Thanks for any and all help.
Lance