I finally have all my linear motion rails/bearings and have all the aluminum I need to begin building my CNC Router. I think I've talked myself into going with servos instead of steppers. I'll be using this machine for more than I had originally anticipated so I want it to mill aluminum without struggling.
My dillema? I know nothing about servo motors or driver boards etc... I'm a quick study and have no problems assembling electronic equipment, I just need some advice from those with experience.
What size servo's would you recommend? I'm assuming I'll be buying Gecko's driver boards but am not sure which model... of course I know it will depend on the servos etc...
I've found the servo's below, what do you think?
Below are some random statments from the seller's description:
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Electro-craft DC brush type servo motors Model E540. Shaft is 5/16 dia with a small pulley at the end. Remove the pulley and the shaft has been machined down to 1/4 inch for about 5/8 inch. Encoders are BEI MOD56-551 and look just like the HP Heds series. unable to determine encoder resolution but I believe them to be at least 250 CPR. I've been running a set with Gecko G320 drives and they perform great. 240 in oz peak torque. Quadrature operation, 5 vdc 35 ma. 24-28 vdc 3770 RPM.
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240oz/in isn't terribly strong for a servo from what I've seen but more than twice the torque of the steppers I was considering.
I appreciate everyone's help on this. I intend to begin my build over my xmas vacation and will definately take pics and document my experience for those who are interested.
Any recommendations? I'm trying to keep the servos and driver boards within a $500 budget. That would put my machine costs at around $750 since I got all my aluminum free. It would also keep my wife happy
I know, that's gonna be tight. The Gecko's alone will be more than $350... doesn't leave much for Servos. Oh, is there good free software that will run servo's well? I noticed on the Gecko website they say with the G320 you can run the servo's with stepper software.
Darren