[Arcticfox46]

I have a router machine - not home built

I am thinking I "might" convert it to run directly from the PC.

The router has stepper motors for each of the three axis motions.

1) Do I need to purchase some "special" axis drive cards for the PC?

2) How would I power the axis drive stepper motors?

[acondit]

It really depends on what kind of drivers it has now. If it has drivers that use step and direction signals, you may just need a breakout board and some software.

So the first question is what kind of drivers does it have now?

Alan

[Arcticfox46]

Not sure how to answer the question.

It is a Larken Router

It has a black box where the axis wiring plugs into.

It runs OK - but I was thinking that if the conversion was easy enough I would eliminate the black box and run from a PC.

I may not be knowledgable to do that. Also cost may hinder me.

So - I guess - the answer is assume that I was going from scratch and building a router.

[acondit]

Well if you are serious, then I would open up the black box and see if I could identify the drivers. If they are Larken drivers, you might be able to identify the model and get some info that would be useful. If you just want to throw the black box away (why?), then you need to identify what kind of steppers to determine voltage and current required to drive them. That may dictate what some of your choices are.

By the way there is a Larken forum here where you might get more information. http://www.cnczone.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=351

Alan

[Al_The_Man]

It is a Larken Router

It has a black box where the axis wiring plugs into.

AFAIK the Larken is already PC based, driven through the parallel port, the black box you are refering to is the drivers, which you will need in any event.
Al.