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This video is from an old Timescapes.org forum buddy of mine known online as DISPLACEMENT1 who builds camera moco rigs for animation based in Manchester. Chat on that forum has dried up but there's a ton of useful stuff still hiding in the archive and you may be able to contact him via the Vimeo page for the video if you want to chat with someone who has experience with the kind of gear you are building.
https://vimeo.com/177889250
The system I use on my rose engine enables and disables steppers to allow positioning the cutter on X and Z axes and also locking the spindle. The sliderest is positioned on a flat table instead of traditional ways, so home position isn't very meaningful. Disabling the stepper on an axis makes it easy to move either axis quickly. The firmware started as a way to control my macro panorama camera system. The movements required for a cnc mill and a camera system are very similar (if you ignore the spindle :smug:). If you want to create a more precise movement system, investigate using an MPG to control the individual axes.