New fella in the class

[taxfromdk]

Hi Guys!

I have no machinist experience, so please dont kill me for asking questions that seem stupid. Im just without experience yet.
I have been circling around a CNC project for some time now, and I have finally got my hands on a set of motors and a controller board. I havent connected it yet.

Before i start I would like to outline my plan, and hear your criticism, so I can avoud celebrating the system with electric smoke.

My first goal is just to start up the motors on my desktop, and watch them do their thing. Spin in some controlled way.

I have a cnc controller:

http://www.stepmasternc.com/datasheet4axissop-1.pdf

And 4 stepper motors:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...DME:L:AAQ:US:1

I have not got a power supply yet, but plan to use an internal feed from an old Athlon PC. I am not sure how much power the system with 4 stepper motors will consume, so my first question is.

Does feeding the system from a PC sound stupid? If so what would you do? If not so, how would you wire the thing up.

To connect the controller I got a Printer-switchbox extension cable. It has 2 male 25 pin connectors. To let the cable plug in to the board, I have a 25 pin gender changer. Would that be OK?

To control the whole system I intend to use linux CNC.

http://www.linuxcnc.org/

I think there is a boot-CD, but besides that I know nothing. Have anybody tried this system?

My long term goal is to build a 3 axis mill. Would the motors i have got be able to drive a homebuilt mill. -Or drive a Proxxon MF70.

http://www.proxxon.com/

In my attempt to build a CNC system, I have learned that there is a difference between unipolar and bipolar systems. So I have a spare unipolar board if anybody should be interrested.

http://cgi.ebay.com/MC433-4-Axis-Ste...QQcmdZViewItem

I assume that bipolar systems are preferred?

Thanx in advance for your time.

/TAX

[taxfromdk]

I hooked up the system and set the current to 75% of the power written on the motors. I had had them powered on for ~2 hours and the temperature increased.

What is normal temperature for stepper motors?

/TAX