I've done tons of research on steppers and I've been familiar with them for a long while but I'm stuck at deciding which ones to buy. I've got a 3040 CNC frame coming and want to outfit it with electronics to learn with but that will also be suitable for a larger and better machine that I can build in the future. I'll be using a 2.2kW water cooled spindle and a sensorless vector drive from Hitachi. I'm using a TinyG for control (for now) since it's easy and pretty cheap. I'll re-purpose it in a 4 axis machine down the road.

But for now, I'm limited to 2.8-ish amps/phase and 30 volt motors. I know the relationships between voltage, current and inductance (I think) but don't know how they apply to a CNC router used mainly for wood and plastic but hopefully also aluminum so I can make parts for my second, larger router. What's most valuable? Torque? Low inductance for quick travel? Voltage for speed? I know you can't have all three but which should I be concerned most with in this application? The 3040 has ballscrews so it should move easily with low torque but will I need more torque when cutting aluminum? I'm not super concerned with the time to complete a job but will I need more speed in order to machine wood and plastic?

Does anyone want to just tell me which stepper to get? lol

Thanks!

P.S. Anyone know what NEMA size the generic 3040 frame uses? I can't seem to find any reliable info on that...