Couple more updates. First, the less interesting one: I tested a Leadshine EM542S driver: Video, PDF
I’d say it’s a tad better than the Gecko driver but not nearly as good as the Trinamic. For some reason it gets crazy loud at 800mm/min, like stock driver loud. It performs quite well at low speeds though.
The more interesting one: I made a kind of “breakout board” for the Nomad. It has two purposes:
- Act as a molex -> screw terminal bridge for the stepper motors, so that they can be easily connected to arbitrary drivers (like Leadshine or Gecko). Same for the McGillicutty.
- Act as a carrier board for Polulu-style stepper drivers, in my case the Trinamic TMC2209 drivers.
Here’s a picture:
My next step is to measure torque but I’m almost certain at this point that the Trinamic drivers will end up the overall winners due to their crazy quietness. The only reason I can see myself not using them is if they don’t actually produce enough force that the endmill can cut.
Really not sure how to measure the torque though. A luggage scale is the best idea I have right now.