Copier Stepper motors suitable for a cnc project?

[rhinoman]

I have a few coppier 1.8 degree stepper motors I plucked from the back of a old copier. I want to know if thay would be just right to use as motors for a two axis cnc kit that i could build? I did not take the driver controlers out of the copier but should I have done so?

What kind of torqe is needed to push the router or plasma cutter to cut 3/16 inch aluminum to any shape I wanted?

[PsyKotyk]

Hey there. I'm a bit of a n00b myself, but the only forces you need to overcome are the forces of friction. So having said that, it really all depends on what kind of linear bearings/bushing you use, and how you convert the rotational motion into linear motion (ie threaded rod,ballscrew rack and pinion )

From what I know, the actual plasma cutting action doesn't require much/any horizontal forces to over come.

So in summary, it depends on how you build it, but the motors you have could certainly be used.

[NC Cams]

Don't expect much if any help from the motor maker if they are imported motors. The Pacific rim motor suppliers are notoriously unsupportive of aftermarket use of their motors.

If you use them, it is really a do it YOURSELF project - especially the engineering part of the integration process.

[Jason Marsha]

Plasma should not require as much torque as a wood router. The weight of the gantry may come into play as well. I personally would go with at least 500 oz/inch. Are the motors nema 23 or nema 34?
The other consideration is that the gantry is moved quickly over the table so the motors need to be able to change the direction of the gantry quickly without losing steps.

Check out this thread

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19362

Jason

[NC Cams]

Jason: Copier motors are not that big nor do they need to be. In most cases, you can't get ANY information on them because they're essentially custom made and the maker won't tell you squat.

The inquiry made in post 1 is sort of disjointed. Chances are, unless he reverse engineers the motors and tests them for torque, he'll never be able to see if they meet the torque spec he's asking for later on in his initial post.

The copier steppers might be great for testing. You might have to buy something with specs for the actual machine you hope to make.

Raiding copiers for steppers will get you inexpensive motore. Will they have enought power to do what you want??? Hard to say unless someone has prior experience with them.

[rkey]

most of the motors in copiers are unipolar and you can find plans for makeing drivers for them however they are incredably weak and they will not work well if at all (atleast if i'm understanding you correctly)

however if oyu wanted to build a tiny little cnc setep for something like a dremal tool they would work if you used enough reduction

in the end however they will be too slow for a plasma cutter


good luck!

[vextasteppingmo]

I use steppers out of an old copier my self an have had no trouble with them they are 2 amp plus models and work fine with controllers I found online.
I have a small route cnc machine.

[dan dimock]

If you know the brand of machine they came off of, the dealer that sellsthem can tell you the size and information about them. The best place to get motors that will work for you on a small machine, would be a HP printer, model 3, as they have a 100oz motor.

[cnc kiwi]

I too have obtained a couple of stepping motors off of a printer and are wondering whether or not they have enough torque to drive the axes of a small cnc mill (small enough to hold a dremel). I managed to get the datasheets and found they have 1,2 kg/cm of torque. Is that enough power to mill aluminium and wood?

Thanks

[Jason Marsha]

Originally Posted by cnc kiwi I too have obtained a couple of stepping motors off of a printer and are wondering whether or not they have enough torque to drive the axes of a small cnc mill (small enough to hold a dremel). I managed to get the datasheets and found they have 1,2 kg/cm of torque. Is that enough power to mill aluminium and wood? Thanks

No they are not powerful enough according to my calculations.
The torque of 1.2Kg/cm converts to 16.66 oz/inch torque.
Generally if you are building a small cnc mill using 1/4-20 allthread
you want to have at least a 50 - 60 oz/inch motor or a 3.6Kg/cm of torque.

The closest metric equivalent to the 1/4 -20 allthread is a 6mm allthread.
The small mill in the pic below uses 5/16-18 allthread which is about an 8mm allthread. The motors are between 50-80 oz/inch.

The other pic is of motors liberated from copiers. They range between 50 and ~200oz/inch

See the link in post #4 for more info

Jason

[dan dimock]

Jason

That is a nice looking machine in the picture, did you come up with the plans, if so and it works good you need to post them in the down-load section. From what I read, a lot of the members are wanting to build a small unit like that to start with.

Dan

[Jason Marsha]

Thanks Dan,

That little mill is from JCKleinbauer. The name of the plans is the Hawk.
www.kleinbauer.com

Jason