Newbie- Ordered Zen Toolworks 12" - What else do I need?

[gjbloom]

I just ordered a

Zen Toolworks 1212 DIY CNC

Zen Toolworks 1212 DIY CNC

along with their spindle motor.

I have a dedicated PC I'll be using to drive it, running EMC2 under Ubuntu 8.

The next step is getting the necessary bits between the PC and the stepper motors and spindle on the Zen 1212.

Can anyone here recommend a good combination of power supply, stepper controllers, spindle controller and PC interface for this setup?

[CDAlexander]

A month later -- I'm sure you already have taken care of this, but I recommend the power supply, stepper driver and spindle package that Xin offers.

The How-To's are here:
http://www.zentoolworks.com/zenwiki/..._and_tutorials

The driver card uses a standard DB25 Male/Female Parallel port and comes with a 5' cable. It can drive 3 motors and has a simple switch to use for your spindle cutter (not a power supply for the cutter -- just a switching mechanism that you run one wire (pos/neg) through so it can turn on/off the circuit).

The power supply is actually an AC to DC converter and voltage regulator (to 12VDC). You can take any old AC cord and prepare the leads; it's a screw down terminal connector so you won't need to add any terminal ends except maybe tinning the leads so the wires don't fray.

The spindle, at least the one that I have) is a 24V 1A motor that comes with the mounting frame and built for this system so all the holes are pre-drilled and align perfectly. It has 2 good-size leads that you can connect to supply it power (run one of them to that switch in the driver board). It also comes with one cutter for general usage (I forget the dimensions at the moment -- sorry).

[gjbloom]

@CDAlexander - Yes, I ended up buying a 24V DC 6A power supply via eBay and this controller board.

I was a bit perplexed by the instructions posted for configuring the power supply and controller on the Zen Toolworks wiki, when I do not see either item for sale on either the Zen Toolworks website nor Amazon. I think perhaps this was something Xin used to sell but has since discontinued?

[CDAlexander]

I'm not sure if it is being discontinued or just not advertised for whatever reason. I purchased my setup not more than a month ago and he offered it during his great customer support over email (I didn't know I would need it so I'm glad he did).