I am looking for some advice on the best breakout board and motion controller for what I want to do. I am not sure the DMM BOB is up to the task. If it is, then that would be great, but I think it has some limitations on the 4th axis (charge pump has to be off or something), and it has no indicator LED's which come in handy. Its also a bit spendy when I look at what you can get for $20 on eBay.
Here are the plans for a CNC router I am going to build:
New Windows 7 or 8 PC
Ethernet Smoothstepper (or other, please recommend something if there is a better option? Old computers and parallel ports are not an option for me)
DMM 220 Watt AC servo on the Z
DMM 400 Watt AC servos on the X and Y
Eventually a 4th axis that will probably just be a stepper motor (one of those Chinese setups on eBay)
Maybe a 5th axis tilt plate thing (not sure if the 4th axis would be swapped out when this is in use, or it should be setup to run both without any wiring changes)
Dust collection
2.2K spindle motor
VFD for spindle motor
Water cooling system for the spindle
Pokeys or something for the "hard" controls and/or a pendant
Mach 3
I could switch to steppers for the X,Y,Z but I think I will be happier with the servos and I don't think that decision means a lot for the BOB and motion controller. Except, the DMM BOB will have the right connectors for their cables/drives.
So, I need any other recommendations for the motion control and suggestions for the breakout board to meet the above needs. I am not sure if I want to go to a USB motion controller. USB and the way computers are now is a bit out of control. I am always running into problems now that they want them to charge cell phones, increasing current capacity, don't shut down when the computer is off etc. I think I want to stick to Ethernet, although I am not closed to other good proven options.
Guest
