I am beginning to make a cnc machine. I am confused about the power supplies. Do I need one giant supply to power all the motors, or do I need one for each axis of movement? Is it possible for all the motors to be running simultaneously, or does it pulse each motor individually in sequence? It seems like that would make a difference in power requirements. Also,

  If I have a brush type servo motor, and a 500 line encoder, Is the encoder the only thing that makes the resolution of the motor, or does the motor winding have to be "mated" to the encoder so the two talk? I see many motors talking about the number of steps, and I know a lot of servo motors are revamped step motors with encoders, so it makes me wonder if this is an issue. If a motor has 300 "steps" and a 500 line encoder is that a mismatch, or is there something that happens when you go to servos that makes that a non-issue?

  Thanks in advance to any replies. These seem like some deep waters I'm beginning to step into (no pun intended) and I am glad to have an area like his to do brain-picking in.

  Peace,
  Gumby

I am beginning to make a cnc machine. I am confused about the power supplies. Do I need one giant supply to power all the motors, or do I need one for each axis of movement? Is it possible for all the motors to be running simultaneously, or does it pulse each motor individually in sequence? It seems like that would make a difference in power requirements.

You can use either depending on what you have or can get. If you are drawing a large current two or three smaller power supplies might be better. Mach can control up to 6 axis simultaneously.

  If I have a brush type servo motor, and a 500 line encoder, Is the encoder the only thing that makes the resolution of the motor, or does the motor winding have to be "mated" to the encoder so the two talk? I see many motors talking about the number of steps, and I know a lot of servo motors are revamped step motors with encoders, so it makes me wonder if this is an issue. If a motor has 300 "steps" and a 500 line encoder is that a mismatch, or is there something that happens when you go to servos that makes that a non-issue?

Just embarking on servos, my previous experience is steppers, but from what I understand it is the encoder only that you need to worry about.
Hood