What electronics do I need for my first home project?

[pheet123]

Hi, If anybody can help I'd appreciate it.

I'm planning on building a CNC router to cut my RC plane components.
So far I have 3 Stepper motors all the same (details below) and an Dell 400MHZ PC with Win98 (OS can be changed)
Astrosyn - Miniangle stepper
P/N PJJQ26ZA-A
AST Type 23LM C202-P2
4.0V/Phase
1.1 A/Phase
1.8 deg / step

I'm basically confused with what electronics I need to go between my PC and the Motors. I keep seeing Motor drivers and Motor controllers being advertised and so far managed to establish that I need one motor driver per motor. Do I need the same with a motor controller?

Any help will be much appreciated

Many thanks
Pheet123

[MrBean]

Hi. You'll need at least 3 drivers, one for each motor, or it may incorporate all three drivers on one board. Generally, the controller is software based, such as Mach2. This sends out the electrical signals from the PC to the drivers. The other main part is a breakout board, which is optional. It makes connecting the drivers to PC, much easier and allows for limit switches and relays etc... You don't have to have a breakout board, although I'd recommend one.

So You'll have.....

Controller(software) > beakoutboard(optional) > motor driver > stepper or servo motor.

I hope that helps
Regards Terry.
www.terry-is.f2s.com

[pheet123]

cheers for the reply.

Any suggestions on where to buy the drivers and breakout board? I'm not that electronics savvy so I suppose I'd like to just bolt them together rather than build from scratch

[DieGuy]

You might look at the Xylotex forum here. I run a taig mill with it and they work fine for smalled projects but are limited to max voltage of about 30 volts @ 2.8 amps (if I rememeber correctly) Pretty darm cost effective with a PSU made from 18VAC transformer and a bridge rectifier and capacitor. I just checked the cost for a 3 axis driver board is about $145.
http://xylotex.com/#3axis

[MrBean]

Originally Posted by pheet123 cheers for the reply. Any suggestions on where to buy the drivers and breakout board? I'm not that electronics savvy so I suppose I'd like to just bolt them together rather than build from scratch

It really depends on where you're happy to buy from. You are limited a bit if you only want to purchase from UK based companies. Stuff is available here, but there's more choice and usally cheaper solutions to be had by buying from the US. In the UK: http://www.arceurotrade.co.uk are reasonable for drivers and motors.
As Dieguy said the Xylotex are "Pretty darm cost effective". In the UK you can get hold of some here: (I think)
http://www.simplycnc.com/motioncontrolsub.htm

I'm struggling to find a UK outlet for breakout boards.....Sorry.
These are just a couple of random suggestions to get you started. I built my own drivers and breakout from the plans made available by Alan G, of:
www.fromorbit.com
So I have no experience of commercially available drivers etc....
I hope some of that is useful to you.

Regards Terry.....
www.terry-is.f2s.com

[cozymkiv]

I built my own drivers and breakout from the plans made available by Alan G, of:
www.fromorbit.com


How do you find this design? I also looked at the site as I want to use the design for changing my Sieg lathe and mill into CNC. I am an absolute newbie in this field

Hennie ( this is my first post)

[MrBean]

I've not had any major problems with the PICStep drivers. Any problems I did have were entirely my fault and not anything to do with Alans design. I'm very happy with the drivers and they've worked flawlessly now for about 7 months.

I'd compare the component cost of building the PICstep drivers, to a commercially available driver that would suit you needs. Is the price difference worth your time to build PICStep, if so then get building. If not, or you're not comfortable with soldering etc.... Then it may be worth buying something you can use straight out of the box. It's your choice. I built PICStep because I love building stuff. That's half the enjoyment to me. Yeh I saved some money......But learnt a whole lot more by having a go myself. And made a few friends along the way.

Regards Terry.....

[cozymkiv]

Originally Posted by MrBean I've not had any major problems with the PICStep drivers. Any Regards Terry.....

Thanks Terry, I will go the build route as I am a tinkerer myself

Hennie