Bridge between Comp and Drivers

[Scra99tch]

I am about to begin a small cnc project using steppers. I have looked through this site and have not found an answer. I will be using IMS IM483 Drivers to power and drive several Slo-Syn steppers.

My question is what will I be using to bridge the 3 axis stepper drivers to my computer?

I rtead Mach3 is my best bet for software but will it be able to control direction and any necassary inputs to the drivers?

Guess what I am asking is how does the software produce signal through Parralell or Serial cable to each individual driver.

Also to make a long story short while yard sailing (sp?) I came across a guy with a boat load of stuff he bought from an bankrupt company. Good thing was he did not know what the stuff was used for (neither did I but knew I could make a quick buck). The company was an optics company of some sort. Anyways I bought almost everything he had to offer including the drivers and steppers I also found a X-Y table with limit switches built in.
The table found here;

Question is what else would I need to intergrate the limit switches into my machine.

Thanks and

Good site by the way.

Jim

[rippersoft]

To hook the drivers up to your computer you will need a parallel port breakout board and a full 25 line parallel port cable. Not the printer cable.

Limit switches will connect to the breakout board.

You can make your own breakout board (BOB) or purchase from several places. See the open source driver forum on this site for DIY stuff here: Open Source Boards Available, Stepper Drivers and Break Out Boards

This is a good BOB - http://www.cnc4pc.com/Parallel_Port_Interface_Card.htm

This is a basic BOB - http://www.winfordeng.com/products/brk25_parallel.php

http://www.pmdx.com/
http://www.embeddedtronics.com/opto.html
http://www.campbelldesigns.com/breakout-board.php

Hope this helps.
RipperSoftware