Servo's vs steppers

[dannystooblue]

Originally Posted by CNCPROMAN I have used both on machines and find that servo's have been more reliable in the past but technology is changing every day. Carl

Don't get me wrong, I really like my servo mill a lot, it is quiet and runs well, but I am not sure that in the hobby setting that servos are the way to go. I have a strong mechanical background with a lot of time on a computer but less than large amount of experience with electronics. Most of what I have learned is from trial and error or reading so I may be a little off center. Even with servos there is a possibility for error in positioning, you add belting to the mixture or some other type of transmission that you do not have to have with a stepper. From the hobby stand point I would recommend steppers for one simple reason, if you have a bad encoder signal for any reason the servo can run away but with a stepper this is not the case. I have had one connector come unclipped and one wire get damaged, limit switches and e-stop are a must but they may not save the work piece.

With all that said the motors with the fastest acceleration and deceleration should give the fastest results when tuned properly with regards to the highly intricate small moves. A machine that has a top speed of 50ipm may be able to out perform one that can move at 100ipm when working in small movements with lots of direction changes.

Danny