[Marwell]

One thing I am not too clear on is how to size stepper motors to get
the best results for the money. I am building a router with a travel
of X=24,Y=12, and Z=4. I will be cutting mainly hardwoods using a 1hp
palm router. I do not need anything very heavy duty as this will be
just for hobby work, on the other hand I do not want to go too light
as I want something that will last.

[ger21]

Many manufacturers websites have formulas to determine stepper size. You need to know how much weight your moving, and how fast you want to move it to figure out what size motors you'll need. Check out Oriental Motors website.

[project5k]

yea there are several formulas that you will need to be familiar with in order to really dial in the motor size.. my personal tendencies are to wanna go too big, which means i have monster power, but it allways seems to end up hurting my overall performance and pocketbook in then end. screw type, size, moment of inertia of the screw, moving load and its inherant inertia, friction, drive type all play a role in it.. also something to consider, gearing, driver abilities and specs, powersupply specs and your budget all play a roll...

if your going to be using leadscrews moving a heavy gantry then your gonna need more torque, but if your using ballscrews and moving a light load, then you can go smaller..

having a monster motor, and not enough driver and or powersupply to drive it is wasted money as well... lots and lots of things go into the overall equasion...

[Oldmanandhistoy]

Also have a read here http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31815

[OzarkCNC]

I saw these 125oz/in steppers.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWA:IT&ih=014

Are they sufficient for an MDF type of gantry? They seem a bit high dollar for that torque range, but I was wondering what the MINIMUM oz/in holding torque you would suggest since this thread is related to my Q...

Thanks.

OzarkCNC