Boxford 4th axis

[Warden5]

Good morning,
I am looking for assistance with wiring for a 4th axis on a Boxford router, I made one and run it off a divisionmaster which has 4 wires - looked into the Boxford socket - 8 (mostly red) wires !
tried to glean some info from Boxford . . . . . .
Apparrently I will blow the board if I get it wrong (2k) or its 2.5k for a unit from them !
any help or direction would be greatly appreciated
thanks
j

[magicniner]

A Google search for 8 wire stepper motor wiring in conjunction with a comparison with the existing wiring should provide the required information.
I know you can wire an 8-wire stepper to a 4-wire driver but I'm not sure if you can wire a 4-wire stepper to an 8-wire driver, with any luck someone with direct experience will step in and save the day ;-)

- Nick

[magicniner]

https://learn.adafruit.com/all-about...es-of-steppers

If you have an 8-wire driver it looks like you need an 8-wire stepper as you probably don't have access in the 4-wire stepper to split out the required coil connections if they are all there.

[Warden5]

https://learn.adafruit.com/all-about...es-of-steppers

If you have an 8-wire driver it looks like you need an 8-wire stepper as you probably don't have access in the 4-wire stepper to split out the required coil connections if they are all there.

Thanks for the link, spotted the Blue smoke monster !
Don't really want to get associated with the likes of him.
Still would be unsure if all the wires in the socket on the machine were all for the stepper motor windings ?
funny how once the seed of doubt has been sown - it doesn't require feeding or watering to gain a hold !
wouldn't mind half an hour in a well lit room with someone else's . . . .and a camera,pencil & paper ;@)

[magicniner]

Do you have a multi-meter? If so you can disconnect another stepper and meter out the wiring to find out which pins go to which motor wires.

- Nick

[m_c]

As a first step, I'd be tracing the wires to see where they go inside the control box.

I'd guess only 4 of the wires are for the stepper, with the others being inputs for sensors/switches, and/or outputs for controlling locks/actuators.

Hopefully by tracing where the wires go, you'll be able to work out what they do.