Newbie- Which Board should i (newb) use?

[AssassinXCV]

In that other post, i read that the TB6560 boards had problems

I had previously been looking at the HobbyCNC Pro driver board for $104(without shipping, with shipping would come to $130)...(4 axis).. while the tb6560 i could get (with shipping) for around $90-$100.

Is the hobbycncpro american made? and is more reliable? but you have to build it yourself

I want a 4 axis board, heard that gecko is good, and american made, but the gecko540 is a little pricey right now (double the price of the hobbycncpro).

Please, someone help me. I dont want to end up wasting my money on a board that ends up being buggy cause it's some cheap knock-off

Btw, i'd be using EMC2 to control the machine. I have 3amp steppers...

And, if I wanted (wait, it might be required??) to have an emergency stop button, how would i wire it up? inbetween the powersupply and main? or powersupply and driverboard?

And with the hobbycncprodriver, it says it has current reduction to protect from shorts or open circuits... does that mean that i need to always have 4 steppers plugged in?? what if i only want to use 3axis??? or is that only after the board has been turned on, meaning that if i turn on the board with only 3 of the motors plugged, it WON"T destroy the board?

[Ron Dunn]

Can't you just ask ONE question, in ONE place? You're spraying the same questions in all directions, and probably just confusing yourself in the process.

One more piece of advice ... buy a machine and electronics from a reputable supplier. Mine was from Probotix, there are others like Zen Toolworks, Microcarve, etc. You'll save yourself a LOT of trouble and confusion.