Need help with some questions on my DIY wood router build
I am in process of building my DIY Wood Router and have a question about stepper motors/drivers/Mach 3. I purchased 3 used NEMA 34 stepper motors several months ago when I decide that I would tackle a DIY CNC project. Additionally, I purchased a Gecko 201 driver off ebay. The motors are 8 wire motors. The motors are MCG steppers and have a max of 80 volts and 7.0 amps and produce 651 oz/in. My question is can I mix and match different stepper motors and drivers? Or, do they all have to be the same? Can I mix and match if need be? And if it is acceptable to do that, will Mach 3 be able to deal with the mix/match? I have a C10 parallel breakout board, and will need to purchase at least 2 more drivers. The system I am constructing is calling for 2 motors on the x axis, 1 on the y, and 1 on the z. I may decide to switch out one or more of the motors to a NEMA 23 form factor as these MCG NEMA 34's are probably heavier that my wood router would need. Additionally, I may decide to convert the x-axis to be driven by just one of the NEMA 34 steppers. I appreciate any insight anyone can offer on this.
Re: Need help with some questions on my DIY wood router build
Yes, you can mix and match. Mach3 doesn't care, or even know what size your motors are.
Just make sure that if you use two motors for your X axis, I'd make sure you use the same motors and drives for both.