Hi, I have a few questions about parts compatibilities.

It looks like if I buy my ball screws/motors/slides on Ebay I can get a reasonable price. But usually the items are from different sources in varying quantities.
Meaning I might get a 1/4"-5 ball screw for the Z axis, with a 116OZ-in motor with 200 step resolution

But for the X and Y, I might have a 1/2"-10 ball screw with 200 OZ-IN motor with 180 step resolutions.

I just made these up to get to a point.

Does the software, (MACH2, for example) take into account different motor resolutions and varying pitch on the screws, or do I need to match the whole system perfectly?

An additional question has to do with the stepper motors. I have almost no experience on the electrical end and it seems very confusing to me. Often the seller will say something like 116OZ-IN , but some other seller will simply list the amps and volts required.

It is very difficult to try and compare the various motors without a cross reference table as to what all these things mean.

Is something like this available?

Thanks for your help

my two cents - so take it for whats its worth!
Re: question 1 - You betcha! MACH2 will let you configure the motor/driver/ballscrew combination independantly for each axis. Take a moment and download the trial version and I think you'll be impressed! I bought it and am still working out the second question you have re steppermotors. Working through steps per unit (inch), velocity, acceleration, pulse width, etc - trying to make the squares come out square!
So far I'm up and running - cutting blue styro while sorting things out - making noise and chips! Art (the orgin of the MACH2) has been very helpful and considerate in getting it all setup too.
The manual is EXTENSIVE - maybe 200 plus pages so well documented and a good read. A few rough patches - but hey so has MSoft!
:cheers: Jim
ps - I don't work for the guy - just a satisified customer!

I did the eBay scrounge thing too and settled on using some Acme threadded rod for x and y for now. Tollerance seem pretty good but will know better when all "dialed-in".