[ibuildstuff4u]

I have a D&M milling machine and want to replace the stepper motors with some stronger ones and can't find something with similar spects. I'm hoping someone can help me choose something that will work good with the original drives.

The original motors are Nema 23 size and run with 5.4 volts and require 1.5 amps. The machines power supply puts out 50 volts and the drives are rated for up to 2 amps max.

Please let me know if there is something out there that will work well for my machine.
Thanks for the help!

Dale P.

[jalessi]

Dale,

There are several models of the D&M, is yours a Sherline that has been converted to CNC?

Please post a few pictures so that we can give you better advise.

http://www.sherline.com/

Jeff...

[ibuildstuff4u]

Yes, I should have given more details. The mill is a Converted Sherline machine and the stepper motors are 6 wire ones. I'm hoping to keep the original drives and just replace the motors for more torque and less missed steps as it's pretty easy to push these too hard.

Here are some pictures of the machine.

Thanks for the help.

Dale P.

[jalessi]

Dale,

Resonance is a big issue with your machine, the 20 tpi lead screws are not helping matters either.

Just changing the stepper motors wont help very much.

I have upgraded many of these old machines and would be happy to explain in detail.

Do you have a instant messenger?

Jeff...

[ibuildstuff4u]

I don't have an instant messenger, but you can easily reach me with my E-mail address at [email protected]

I already retrofitted the machine with a new breakout board so I could use Mach 3 software. The picture shown is half way threw the retrofit, in the end I added a fourth axis, coolant pump and a cool little digital relay to control the spindle, coolant pump, charge pump, and more. I was given some extra stepper drives from someone who replaced all of theirs with geckos which allowed me to add the fourth axis as well as have some for spares. Because of this, and the cost of new drives, I'm really hoping to get more power out of it with out having to replace the old drives.

I'm not looking for a ton of power out of the stepper motors and under stand that this is just a sherline mill that is made out of aluminum so it's cutting speeds and feeds are going to be slow. I'm just sick of it loosing steps so easily and want to give it a little more power.

Hopefully you have a solution for my problem!

Thanks, Dale P.