Making your own powerful Controller on the cheap side

The shield is not a requirement, there is no problem connecting directly to the Arduino.
Convenience is what it provide.

@PhilJohnson thanks for all your great info. I’m almost done with my new controller. I think I’m crazy but I’m doing a ton of upgrades at once. I’m going from 500x500 to 1000x1000, new controller, auto spindle and shop vac control, 3gt belts, nema 17 to nema 23 269oz, … it’s been a lot of fun and I’m sort of OCD so it’s going to look really good too! Thanks and I’ll post more pics when I’m done.

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Tell me you’re going to put a nice clear piece of plexiglass over the top so everyone can oogle your wonderful work.

Absolutely! And labels on the buttons and switches!

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Oh my! :grin:

Hey @PhilJohnson, awesome design! I might make a new controller based on this. I was wondering, have you used 4 x 269 oz NEMA 23 steppers? Do you think I could just them on the X and Z axis and use the original 140 oz ones on the Y axis? (so I’ll have 2 x 140 oz, not sure if it’s equivalent to a 280 oz one).

I don’t really mind buying 2 extra 269 oz steppers, I’m just curious about this.

I am not Phil but:

I use 140oz steppers on Y (dual) and singel 269oz steppers for X and Z. Work very well.
But if you get a good deal on 4x 269’s by all means just go for it :wink:

Note that the Xcarve do not accomodate the longer 269oz case without modification.

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Thanks for the explanation! I’ll go with 4 x 269 oz then! (the 380oz ones look nice too!).

It means that I’ll have a full set of NEMA23 motors (the original 140oz ones) and a gshield sitting in a drawer… I might get a MiniMill at some point to put them to use :slight_smile: , or I’ll start working on making a 3D printer with them.

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@Sebmarchand

If you have the Inventables Z axis installed the 269oz-in motor will not fit in the standard position for Z (the new motor is 76mm long).

You can invert the motor and use it with the standard setup, or upgrade your Z axis.

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Thanks, I’ve just updated my Z-Axis (with a CNC4Newbie kit) and I’ll soon update my X/Y Axis to lead screws (thanks to @Phantomm upgrade kit!), so I should be fine with longer steppers.

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Whats all that for?

It’s basically a setup to add filter capacitors to the homing/limit switch wires to help prevent false triggers due to electromagnetic interference.

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Never had a false trigger. Do i need to do that or is shielding enough?

It depends on your situation. I’m running with just shielded wires on my homing switches and haven’t had any problems. I also use soft limits so my switches are only active during the homing cycle.

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@PhilJohnson How and where did you run the power supply to/from? its in the schematic but not in the pix

@Phantomm

The PSU connect directly to the drivers (black & red wire upper left)

My little “Demon”:

The PHYSICAL power supply. Not the wires lol.

Oops :wink:

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Welllllll? Where is yours hidden?

Ah, separate panel?

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