4 Axis CNC by Arduino

[animal12]

hello . I have a old MaxNC ( yea I know ) that has the 4 axis . I would like to get all 4 Axis's working with Arduino & what ever board you folks
think will work . I would like to be able to engrave new dials for my South Bend lathe & my Enco Mill-Drill . I have a CNC shield , but dont think it will support 4 separate Axis's with Grbl
thanks
animal

[awerby]

I'm not sure the MaxNC will have enough accuracy to engrave dials for other machines - you want something like that to be right on. Your best shot would be to use the 4th axis for that, and avoid changing direction. Otherwise, the floating screws on that mill will probably frustrate your efforts, whatever control system you use.

[ZASto]

There should be GRBL on Arduino Mega2560 which canhandle 5 axes.
https://github.com/fra589/grbl-Mega-5X
or to use GRBL on STM32F103xx aka Blue pill
https://github.com/MoonCactus/grbl-STM32F103

[hfjbuis]

This GRBL version https://github.com/fra589/grbl-Mega-5X is for using a RAMPS shield on top the the Atmega 2560 board for easy connecting steppers, limit switches and other things. RAMPS shields have sockets for 5 "stepstick" stepper drivers. These sockets (pins) can also be used for connecting external drivers. The Arduino Mega and Ramps shield are a good and affordable way for starting CNC.