Hello all,

I wasn't sure where to post project questions.  If this is the wrong place, please move to the appropriate section.

I have been working with Mach3 and the Hobby CNC driver for many years with great success, but I have a new project that I need a bit of help with.
I need someone to point me in the right direction for controlling two stepper motors on one axis and keeping them in sync.

Project.
I might be using the Geckodriver G540 for this, but am open to suggestions of coarse.  Maybe the tried and true hobby CNC,,??

I am building 2 XY tables that will be separated and I need them to work in sync.

Any advice on what the best way to approach this would be very helpful.

Thank you in advance!

Steve

You should be able to slave them.
But if each table will have a spindle, then you'd need 6 axis, so a G540 might not be the best option.

Thanks for the reply,, sorry for my delay...
No,, only positioning, X and Y.  No spindle in this setup.

So by "Slaving" the two.. Do you mean simply wiring the two motors into the X axis output, and the two motors into Y axis output?
If so, Will that not split the voltage supply to each?  Or cause problems with current draw? 

Is there another approach, options?

Thanks again for your reply.!
Any and all help is much appreciated here.

Steve.

Go to Config menu, select slave axis option and select slave A axis with The Y axis, you will be asking to re-start Mach3.

You can't slave X axis with Y axis, only X with A,B or C  -   Y with A, B or C and   Z with A, B or C

 

Jeff

So by "Slaving" the two.. Do you mean simply wiring the two motors into the X axis output, and the two motors into Y axis output?
If so, Will that not split the voltage supply to each?  Or cause problems with current draw? 

It is not a good idea to just connect two motors together - each motor should have it's own driver (set-up as an axis) and then be 'slaved' as Jeff has described.

Tweakie.

That's great news!!  And yes, didn't think wiring them on the same axis was the right thing to do..  That's why I ask you experts!

Ok, so that means that my x and y will consume all 4 axis.  I still need a Z axis.
So, any advice on how to daisy chain two 4 axis driver boards through one mach3?  (I say 4 axis as I might as well keep in redundant.  I would only need 1 or 2 of the 4.)

Thanks for all your help so far folks!

Add a second parallel port.

And Mach software would accommodate? 
That also brings up another topic that has a lot of folks talking.  With new computer motherboards not having a parallel port, I have read that a parallel PS2 card would work.  Any opinions on this?

If you use a 32 bit version of Windows 7 or older, you can use a PCI parallel port card.
If using a more modern or 64 bit OS, you can use a motion controller that offers multiple ports, like an ESS or UC300.

Opps, I meant PCI,, good lord.. haha

You mean something like this?
http://www.pmdx.com/2PARPCI