[Jay C]

Yes another one. When I was looking I could only find Paul's and he was just starting so the more the merrier.

I was waffling between the three boards and going DIY. I love electronics (I should as a EE) and building my own stuff. As I read more and more about these drivers I realized it was very close to some robotics projects I did back in college. Namely PWM H-bridge driver chips from Allegromicro. Long storey short, it was cheaper to buy a kit that order all the individual parts. So now it was down to HobbyCNC or Xylotex.

I went with HobbyCNC based on threads I read on eZone, here, and other threads. It would have been easier if I could have browsed the support forum first, and been able to guage the support after the sale, which by my account is superb. Dave answers every question with a straight forward, no-BS response. I like that.

Ok, I ordered my board and a stepper motor on Sunday and it arrived Wednesday. I recieved two emails from HobbyCNC, one saying it would go out on Sunday, and another telling me it shipped. When it got here, my wife "hid" it from me as we had errands to run and she knew I'd want to jump into building it. I started at 10:45PM but had read the instruction sheets prior to that while babysitting my boy.

First thing I did was seperate the parts into piles of same parts. Then step by step I stuffed and soldered the components as instructed. All you have to do is pay attention to the silkscreen numbers and stuff the very well documented part where it belongs. I have designed PCB's so the numbering and layout are very familar to me. I took my time because there was no rush and if you don't you make mistakes

The only issue I have is that I'm missing a resistor for the 5-volt regulator circuit for the logic. I wasn't thinking of all my options, except I did go through my personal inventory of resistors to find it, and I fired an email to Dave for a replacement. I went to bed, but Dave must be a night owl as I had an email the next morning at 4AM! Does he ever sleep! I plan to go by the local Shack to see if they have the one I need, but just to let you know Dave is sending a replacement anyway.

Stay tuned for the rest of the build and some tips. One comment I have about my order is the 80oz-in stepper I bought too. The thing is much bigger than I had imagined. Thank goodness I only ordered 80oz-in, the 200oz-in must be huge. I'll use this one to power the lead screw I'm adding to my lathe (Taig) and a smaller surplus one I already have for the cross slide (and mabe the milling attachment).

Jay

[Jay C]

Update: 2/16/2005

Okay, Dave sent me the replacement 750 ohm resistor (I could have used two 1.5K ohm resistors in parallel but not really in a rush since I'm working on the mechanics of my lead screw) I need and it arrived yesterday. I installed it and tried the 5V test using a 12V field battery (for you non RC types it's just a 12V gel cell you haul out to start your aircraft engine). 6.55V ... what ... no way I was so careful and this part of the circuit on has three parts ... WTF. So I walk back through the instructions step by step and there is is in caps:

From memory so it's paraphrased "Insert the LM317 next with the tab oriented towards R12" ... DOH! Looks like I got cocky at the end and stuffed the two voltage regulators facing the same way (wedge). So I dug out my old solder sucker since my fancy desolder station was on loan to a buddy. I resolder it the right way, plug it up and get 4.99V.

So now I need to decide if I believe the superstition of "spinning the motors" or not. NOT! I assumed I already had the proper parallel cable so I didn't get Dave's kit ... $15 later I have a 10' cable en route.

My plan is to use old an AT PC P/S to drive my motors. Since I'll be turned aluminum (mostly) I don't need/cant use a lot of speed.

Note: If anyone is intrested in me assembling/testing their board/kit send me a PM ... I had forgotten how much I enjoy soldering.

Jay

[joecnc2006]

I should recieve the board in a couple of days, I hope i can put it together, I have not done any boards before. but i will try.

[Jay C]

Joe, it's straight forward and Dave spells everything out. If in doubt, just ask here or on the yahoo support list. Have you ever soldered before? if not, you may want to practice, read a tutorial, and ask questions. If so, then just make sure your tip is well tinned, watch for solder bridges (happens more with too wide of a tip), and clean your joints afterwards to prevent corrosion from the excess flux.

Have fun,
Jay

[HobbyCNC]

Joe, it's straight forward and Dave spells everything out. If in doubt, just ask here or on the yahoo support list. Have you ever soldered before? if not, you may want to practice, read a tutorial, and ask questions. If so, then just make sure your tip is well tinned, watch for solder bridges (happens more with too wide of a tip), and clean your joints afterwards to prevent corrosion from the excess flux.

Have fun,
Jay

We have soldering tutorial link on our Yahoo hosted support group in the "links" area. Who da thunk?

Dave Rigotti

[joecnc2006]

We have soldering tutorial link on our Yahoo hosted support group in the "links" area. Who da thunk?

Dave Rigotti

I applied for the yahoo group about a week ago and have not recieved an email or anything, so not a member yet i guess.

[HobbyCNC]

I applied for the yahoo group about a week ago and have not recieved an email or anything, so not a member yet i guess.

You must follow the instructions as described on our homepage. IF you did not include the information requested, you will be denied. We get 10-20 requests a DAY from non customers.

Dave Rigotti
HobbyCNC.com

[joecnc2006]

ok thanks, i will do it not and see if i can get it going. i also sent a money order for a board to ypou monday.. look forward to checking it out and excited to get my machine a moving...

Thanks again.

[joecnc2006]

will this work 24v power supply for the HobbyCNC 3 axis board?

http://www.altex.com/product_info.ph...roducts_id=948

Thanks, Joe

[HobbyCNC]

will this work 24v power supply for the HobbyCNC 3 axis board?

http://www.altex.com/product_info.ph...roducts_id=948

Thanks, Joe

Not even close! You'll need a power supply up to 44VDC that will have enough AMPS to provide at least 70% of the total stepper current draw. 10AMPS is usually enough. Maybe a "package" would have been a better choice as we supply all the materials except for the case and a transformer which we provide links to.

Dave Rigotti

[joecnc2006]

yes you are right dave, i should have gotten the kit from you... i will look again at the HobbyCNC site. thanks again you are certainly have good tech support with your site.

[HobbyCNC]

yes you are right dave, i should have gotten the kit from you... i will look again at the HobbyCNC site. thanks again you are certainly have good tech support with your site.

Email us offline and we'll work something out for you

Dave Rigotti

[Jay C]

Update:

My cable arrived the moring (WOW to FedEx Ground!) so I set my Vrefs all for .5A, wired one of my surplus/unknown steppers (a little dinky one that someone gave me out of whatever) about the size of two cdrom motors stacked. I installed Mach1 just for the ease of install and jogging but the OCX driver didn't install. So I downlaoded the instructions and Art says that Win2K needs a manual install. I uninstalled the driver, replaced it with the alternate driver Art provides, rebooted, and viola Mach1 can take over my timer

Ok, some simple configs like picking the axis that are used, confirming the parallel port pin configs, and setting my hot keys for the axis, and I was steppin' . I played in the motor tuning screen trying to get more torque but the motor is too weak. SO I connected the Japan Servo 80oz-in I bought from Dave. Now we are talking! The 80 sings though ... and it's an annoying tune to my ears.

Off to the garage to complete my lead screw ... I'm thinking I may have to find a bigger motor than I have for my X (the cross slide) but the Z will be fine with the 80oz-in no doubt.

Dave's board works as advertised, but requires attention to detail when assembling/configuring it. I would recommend it to anyone that has soldered before and has some knowledge of electric circuits (especially for the linear power supply).

That's it for my review, it a shame about the hijacking but what can you do

Jay

[cncadmin]

Jayc can you add your review here - http://www.cnczone.com/reviews/showp...7/cat/3/page/1 in summary.

[Jay C]

Posted.

[Lewis Riley]

Hi Jay C. Lew Riley here. I have just bought a 4 axis driver from Hobby CNC and am looking forward to putting it together. I was glad to see your words of encouragement. I was wondering though. It says in the instructions that you cannot run less than .5 amps. Your small motor wouldn't draw that, would it. Also , I am planning on buying the 200 oz in, motors. I have a good supply of motors , but nothing that matches. Can you mix and match? Thanks , Lew

[Lewis Riley]

I am going to go a little heavy on the Medium sized machine , small , but over kill. Do you think the 200 oz. in. motors would be enough? I haven't a lot of experience at this but really want to get one going. I have lots of stuff for building a big machine, but not much to build a small one.So I thought I would start with a heavy medium. I see Dave from Hobby CNC is on line too. Thanks Dave , I will be back in touch . Lew

[Jay C]

Hi Jay C. Lew Riley here. I have just bought a 4 axis driver from Hobby CNC and am looking forward to putting it together. I was glad to see your words of encouragement. I was wondering though. It says in the instructions that you cannot run less than .5 amps.

The Vref can go below .103V which sets the current limit to .5A This doesn't mean the motor will use the whole .5, it just means it won't see any higher than that.

Your small motor wouldn't draw that, would it. Also , I am planning on buying the 200 oz in, motors. I have a good supply of motors , but nothing that matches. Can you mix and match? Thanks , Lew

Yes, each axis has its own chip and it's own Vref. In fact, I ran two surplus/unknowns on X and Z, and the Japan Servo stepper on Y each with it's own Vref ... I jogged them around a bit independently, then hit the 0,0,0 button in Mach1 and it ran the X,Y back first then the Z. The only thing I didn't like about the "bigger" 80oz-in is that it "sings" ... and it hurts my ears. I don't know if it's be worse with an even bigger one

Jay

[Jay C]

I am going to go a little heavy on the Medium sized machine , small , but over kill. Do you think the 200 oz. in. motors would be enough?

Lew, I have to admit that I was impressed with the raw torque of the 80oz-in at "low" speed. When I revved up the speed, it got worse. So my practical knowledge leads me to think that the "bigger" motors allow more torque at higher speeds. In my case, my traverse won't be that far so high IPM wasn't a major factor ... size is. Besides, when you are cutting metal you can't go that fast anywy, and the mechanical advantage of a leadscrew is going to icrease your torque as well. I can't answer directly, becaue I've never tried a 200oz-in.

I haven't a lot of experience at this but really want to get one going. I have lots of stuff for building a big machine, but not much to build a small one.So I thought I would start with a heavy medium. I see Dave from Hobby CNC is on line too. Thanks Dave , I will be back in touch . Lew

I sometimes wonder if he ever sleeps ... I sent him an email at 12AM on a Thursday ... he replied at 4AM the same day

Jay

[Jay C]

Lew, I just read your post on HOBBYCNC yahoo group

I am planning to build a medium sized machine. Apx. 4'6" by 2'. But , I am going on the heavy side. Do you think the 200 in. oz. motors will work for this?

Um, what do you consider small if that's medium? What spindle are you going with? Sounds like 200oz-in is what you'll want just to get good IPM traverses. Is this a design you came up with or a scaled up version of a plan?

Good luck,
Jay