i am just about to order a taig 2018cr-er. i am on a budget and would really like to get a $300 stepper/driver kit from probotix or xylotex, but i really like the gecko vampires (G203V)... but 3 axis would blow my budget... i think maybe i can get 3 dual shaft motors and set my x and y with steppers and run my z manual for a while.. or maybe rig my z up so that i can turn it without a stepper temporarily... what i want to work on initially would require not 3 axis simultanious movement.... will this work? any opinions on this?

why don't you tell us what your doing first? you could definately do that but make sure when programming to make long pauses between goes

Joe,

Get three Gecko G251 drivers at 39.00 each intro pricing

This power supply

http://www.kelinginc.net/SwitchingPowerSupply.html

KL-350-48 48V/7.3A
110V/230V $59.95

and these steppers


http://www.hobbycnc.com/products/stepper-motors/

23-305-DS8A 425oz-in bipolar rating, 305oz-unipolar rating, 4.2v, 3A, 200 S/R, 3.2mH, Size #23, Dual Shaft, 8 wire MOST power consumed, best with idle current reduction, Faster speed over 2A version below. $49 each

or

#23-205-DS8 285oz-in bipolar rating, 205oz-in unipolar rating. 3v, 3A, 200 S/R, 2.2mH, Size #23, Dual Shaft, 8 wire Faster than the 305’s, good all around choice $44 each


This break out board
http://www.cnc4pc.com/Store/osc/product_info.php?cPath=33&products_id=45

Total cost about $335.00

If you're trying to save money order the HobbyCNC Pro board kit while ordering those motors and get your 3-axis driver for $80 plus an hour of soldering. I use that board to run a Sieg X1 with smaller motors and it is a much rougher/heavier mill than the Taig. Also has a parallel interface right on the board. As I said in your other thread the G203 is like putting a V8 race engine in a moped. As for the $39 Gecko are they for sale for real yet or still "coming soon?" I have to say that the Gecko fetishism on this board seems to be reaching epic proportions. Good product no doubt but $500 of drives for a Taig just seems really excessive to me unless the money doesn't really mean that much to someone.

Sansbury,

"Gecko Fetishism Has Reached Epic Proportions"?

Is that something like Cecil B. DeMille's The Greatest Show on Earth?

Joey Bags

:)

Probably more like John Waters but yeah, didn't think of that reading until you wrote it...

Sansbury,

Your kidding right, not as bad as the Prince of Puke?

JoeyB

i realize their not nessesary but im a bit of a tinkerer and would like to make some sort of a modular motor/driver setep that i can mix and match and use on different things... i like the vampires because i wont have to worry about connecting them wrong and theyll have have enough juice to push around what ever i want to push around... reguardless of their being overkill for the taig they are still a good value right?

i realize their not nessesary but im a bit of a tinkerer and would like to make some sort of a modular motor/driver setep that i can mix and match and use on different things... i like the vampires because i wont have to worry about connecting them wrong and theyll have have enough juice to push around what ever i want to push around... reguardless of their being overkill for the taig they are still a good value right?

I have *nothing* against the Geckos but IMHO you are wasting money buying those for a Taig. Granted if you are going to give free money to some vendor then Mariss is a good guy to give it to. Still!

Modular drivers--these are available from other sources, including Keling @ $55 each. Cheap enough that you can afford to fry one or two and still be up money.

HobbyCNC among others also offers short protection. Geckos are known for being very idiot-proof. However, my opinion is that idiot proofing should really start with the idiot. Connecting the wires properly is just not that difficult and even if it gets confusing you can post a photo here and get an answer pretty quick. It's not like motor tuning or other deep software configuration things where there are a dozen variables to balance. If you're not sure whether you can handle that then you might want to reconsider working with CNC as this is probably one of the *simpler* parts of the whole process.

Bear in mind that the reason you see so many people posting here with fried boards is that the people who do it right the first time or don't otherwise kill their board usually don't post about it or attract as much attention. That makes it easy to overestimate the likelihood of failure.