Help Me Please…i have become ignorant

20 years ago i purchased steppers, boards etc for a cnc wood mill. Then we sdopted 2 girls and as the stay at home dad…my life altered.

In 20 years, systems/hardware have changed.

Will build Cue Sticks in my twilight years with specs o/s the box of “stardardized” off the shelf “custom cues”. I will taper, inlay, mill and create with the CNC mill. I am. Building for bigger guys like me (6’ 4”)

Will use Micro Soft op system probably Windows 10 (i am now an apple user).

Here are my beginning questions:

What are 2 or 3 quality driver boards manfacturers other than gecko for steppers?

What minimum do I need between the PC and driver boards inputs? Are there any options to Consider between pc/drivers for efficiency/speed/accuracy?

Should I be aware of anything else that I havn’t ask?

I have become ignorant in the digital world.

I am using fully supported linear rails, linear rail and bearings, linear slides, ball screws, 4 or 5”jaw chuck on headstock and tailstock as well as milling table in single unit 64” length and 30” wide cutting area.

I will be appreciative of any help to get restarted. I dont want to scare you, but I will have more questions in the future and will be back! LOL

Thanks

I’m afraid we won’t be able to assist much — this forum is for discussing Carbide 3D Hardware and Software.

You might find Carbide Create Pro helpful:

(and note that it runs on a Mac)

a better forum for this sort of thing might be:

which has a specific area for discussing controllers: Controllers - Maker Forums

1 Like

I think you are going to need a 4th axis. There are ready built machines that have the 4th axis available. OpenBuilds sells controllers and the necessary hardware to roll your own system. Frankly it may be cheaper to build your own but manufactured machines might be easier on getting things to work with out an engineering degree.