It’s about 5 years I stopped building CNC machines, I made 9 in the past (most in aluminum plate) which I did as a hobby and then sold to recover my cost. Now I would like to make a small one to keep for hobby use, about 16”x16” cutting area with 4 NEMA 23 stepper motors but I have forgotten a lot about the rest.

I have a Taig 200-60 ER-16 spindle with a Sherline 33080 DC motor and speed control 90VDC, 6100RPM which is good for my needs. I also have a Mech3 license which I bought in 2009 and I would like to keep the same if I can. I understand Mach3 has changed a lot since 2009 but I don’t know anything more. To make my drawings and g-code I have access to Mastercam X5 and I know how to use it.

I also have the required linear support rails and ball screws/bearings which I can cut to fit my needs.

I know that I have to buy a Gecko G540 driver (I think) and the computer to drive the new CNC is a 7 years old ASUS 17” laptop with Windows 8.1.

The problem now starts with the interface between the laptop and Gecko. Before I was using desktops with a printer cable but now I don’t want to use a desktop so the printer cable is out. Using 4 motors for A/Y axes +X +Z vs 3 motors Y+X+Z does not take much more space but using a desktop along with a screen takes much more space and I don’t want that. The new CNC must be as compact as possible.

So what are the available options / suggestions?

Thank you

Mach 3 support stopped in 2012 so it hasn't changed much!  The latest version is 3.043.062 and you can download it free from the Newfangled Solutions site.   Mach 3 is no longer supported except through this help forum but still works just fine.  Though actually I'm not sure about on Windows 8 - you'll need to check.  I started using it on an XP desktop (parallel port) but have just moved to a Win10 mini with external USB motion controllers with no issues.  Your existing license will also work.

The Gecko expects a parallel port driver on a 25 way D connector.  In my case both my machines have breakout boards with this connector, and I use UC100 USB motion controllers from CNCDrive and these work brilliantly.  They are built into a D-type shell with the 25-way on one side and USB on the other and are no bigger than a standard plug, except you don't need the horrible thick cable.  Some people have had issues with USB if there's a lot of electrical noise from the machine drive but with your titchy drive motor this shouldn't be a problem.  There are a lot of UC100 clones around, make sure you get a genuine one.  CNCDrive have the required drivers and plugin available from their site, you just install the plugin in the appropriate folder, select the UC100 on startup, and you should be away.

The Gecko looks a very nice unit, but quite high quality drivers are available much cheaper these days even for 4 of them, also good BoBs are quite cheap.

I had a very similar aim as you, to save a lot of space as I upgraded from my old PC, and it has been very successful (so far!).

Thank you so much John for the detailed reply, very helpful

Let me research and digest what you say and I will get back most likely with some questions.

For now what do you mean with “….Win10 mini with external USB…”. I know of Win10 but Win10 mini I don’t know what it is

Thanks

Basically a very small Dell Win10 machine.  It's the size of a small stack of CD cases...  Has 4 USB ports, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth.  Obviously needs a monitor, which I had anyway, and I've treated it to a cheap Logitech wireless keyboard.  I also use a an XBox controller for jogging around.

Thanks John, now I got it

Hey John, I searched for USB motion controller and their site is in Hungary. I wanted to ask some questions about their controllers but I prefer to deal with companies from USA. Did you get your US100 from them or you have another contact possibly you would like to share?

Basically I want to ask what they can offer to connect my laptop with the Mach3, the Sherline motor/controller along with the 4 stepper motors

Thanks

Hello Nicolas, CNCDrive is a Hungarian company but any queries will probably be answered by Balazs Klincsik who has excellent English and he was very helpful.  Their site has a "distributors" page http://cncdrive.com/distributors.html and there are a few in North America.  I actually bought the products from their UK distro, CNC4you - https://www.cnc4you.co.uk/Motion-Control/UC100-USB-Motion-Controller - and they use them in their own machines so I guess could support them as well.  Hopefully you'll get support from the US ones as well.  There's also a good user forum on the CNCDrive site.

Much appreciated John

Hi,
USB connected external motion controllers like a UC100 have been around for many tears. If you go to buy one DON'T buy a knock-off Chinese
copy off Ebay or Amazon, get the real deal or don't bother.

Most manufacturers have gone away from USB connections for motion devices. Too much latency and poor electrical noise immunity, most, including
CNCDrive, have gone to Ethernet and is much preferred.

I use an Ethernet SmoothStepper from Warp9TD, and have done for seven years. I also use Mach4 which is light years ahead of Mach3 IMHO, although
you have much experience with Mach3 and it still works OK.

Craig

Thank you Craig for the info, very interesting and adds to my confusion because I know nothing  about these systems.

I’m well aware about CNC’s with the printer cable but I know nothing about USB connections or Ethernet SmoothStepper and I’m sure it’s not as simple as buying a USB connection or Ethernet SmoothStepper and I’m all done, there must be other parts which I need to have a functional CNC.

With the printer cable I know that I needed, besides the stepper motors and the spindle, the drivers for the stepper motors and the appropriate BOB plus a relay or two depending on the BOB. The BOB was the heart of the system connecting all together to the Mach3 via the printer cable

Can someone tell me what parts are required with the USB connection and the SmoothStepper?

In addition, based on your experience the pros/cons of each?

And when you are talking about Ethernet SmoothStepper where the Ethernet fits?

My thanks to all