Servos.
I started out with steppers I rescued from dot-matrix printers, but I didn't put forth enough time and energy to make them completely reliable, and yes, stepper motors can be made reliable! But with my setup I got fed up with stalling steppers and lost steps. I designed and built my own servo drive boards from many many ideas from this site and the web. I'm using small Pittman servo motors (don't know the torque ratings) for X & Y, and a larger Electrocraft servo for Z. I am still running them on a fairly small MDF machine. 12" by 12" X & Y, and about 4" Z. The thing I like best about servos, they are very quiet! When the Dremel isn't running, just the whir of the servo bearings is all you hear.
Brian |