conversion advice. Stepper/driver/ electronic gear recomendations.

[S.Sharpe]

Hi to everyone,
I am new so, excuse any of my newbe questions.
Also, forgive me for Just jumping in here without doing much of a search!
I am at the beginning of a conversion of my Mill, which is a Chinese cheapy... but not too bad for what I want to use it for :>
This is what it is... like- it is the same basic machine, but re-branded.

Opti BF20 VARIO Optimum Mill/Drill Take a look here to see it:

http://www.excelmachinetools.co.uk/d...349/index.html

Mine has 2mm pitch achme screws on the X,Y and 4 on the Z.

From what I have read I have concluded that I will need approximately 350-400 oz/in steppers to drive it reliably at a good speed. I have been looking around, and found a vender who sells steppers and drivers and a breakout board which all look good- the one driver in particular seems promising as it is rated at 60v and 5A and is only $65.
The vender I am looking at is Keling Technology Inc. Does anyone have experience dealing with them, or using their drivers/ steppers?

I have a nice big 1000W trannsformer that I imagine I will be able to use as the power supply, so it looks like I will be able to get all the stuff, less cables to plug into my PC for three axis for about $400.

If anyone knew of a better source I would greatly appreciate you input.

Stefan Sharpe

[phomann]

Hi Stefen,


Have a look at the Gecko G251 drives, or better still the G540.

Gecko is about to have an introductory sale of the G251 drives for $37 each. They are speced at 50V and 3.5 Amps. They should be more than enough to drive your mill. That said you will need a breakout board, etc.

A better option IMO is to get a G540. At $300 you get a complete 4-axis system apart from the power supply. Add a Keling 7A linear power supply and some steppers and you are basically done.

Have a look at this thread;

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=51083

Cheers,


Peter.

[S.Sharpe]

Thanks very much for the heads up. I just had a look at the gecko site, and they have a lot of very useful information.
They would seem to be not only a cheaper option, but perhaps a more tested one too.
Could I use the breakout board from Keling tech inc. with the gecko drivers?

Stefan