Questions Regarding Servo Versus Stepper - Torus Pro.

[Overtorque]

Hello,

I have a few questions regarding servos vs stepper on the Torus Pro. Please assume that these questions are in regards to any type of material (aluminum, steel, stainless, etc.). Also please assume that this machine will most likely be solely a hobby machine, used quite infrequently.

1. Will the servos provide a nicer finish?

2. The main appeal in servos is speed, power, and known position, correct?

3. Regarding known position above, how common is it for a stepper to lose steps? If my feeds and speeds are correct, is there any risk of it happening?

4. What brand and model steppers does the Torus Pro use?

Thanks in advance. I'm new to all this, so I am trying to make the best decision.

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[SCzEngrgGroup]

1) No.
2) Primarily speed, and the servos are much quieter. With a hardware motion controller (like SmoothStepper) the steppers work reliably at >=250 IPM. Min ran perfectly at 350IPM. The servos can do 500 IPM, when properly tuned.
3) Never once lost steps with my Pro when it had steppers, unless I crashed it. The same it true of the servos.
4) You'd have to ask Novakon, but who cares? They work very well.

Regards,
Ray L.

[kvom]

To me the main advantage of a servo would be the spindle to allow rigid tapping, but that's only available on the Pulsar.

[SCzEngrgGroup]

You don't need a servo spindle to do rigid tapping. A good controller can do it just fine with a VFD.

Personally, I prefer T/C tapping heads - cheap, and very forgiving. You can even make your own. I made 6 for myself, for about the cost of one commercial head.

Regards,
Ray L.

[CNC-Joe]

Ray - can you post some pictures of your T/C tapping heads (and possibly the insides)?
Or point me to where you have maybe already posted?

[SCzEngrgGroup]

Ray - can you post some pictures of your T/C tapping heads (and possibly the insides)?
Or point me to where you have maybe already posted?

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/novako...ping-head.html

Regards,
Ray L.

[kvom]

You don't need a servo spindle to do rigid tapping. A good controller can do it just fine with a VFD.

Personally, I prefer T/C tapping heads - cheap, and very forgiving. You can even make your own. I made 6 for myself, for about the cost of one commercial head.

Regards,
Ray L.

At least on my mills torque is quite low at low rpm. I can tap on the Bridgeport with back gear (only feel comfortable on through holes), but I haven't tried it on the NM200. Thread milling there for me.

[SCzEngrgGroup]

At least on my mills torque is quite low at low rpm. I can tap on the Bridgeport with back gear (only feel comfortable on through holes), but I haven't tried it on the NM200. Thread milling there for me.

You'd have to add a decent spindle encoder, and Mach3 does not support tapping with a VFD, but several other controllers do, like UCCNC, and, I assume, PathPilot/LinuxCNC. And you MUST have the braking resistor. It has plenty of torque for tapping at several hundred RPM. You just need to be careful not to bottom out in blind holes, since you don't have exact control over where it stops.

Regards,
Ray L.