The Best Steppers/Servos Setup Thread

[Davek0974]

No worries Jazz, i fully realise that you get what you pay for :) All it needs is a knowledgeable person to identify the Pid parameters in the manual and sort out what does what :) Trouble is they dont even call them Pid :)

One drive not mentioned yet is the hybrid stepper-servo - a stepper with an encoder mounted and a suitable drive. I nearly fitted these on the Bridgeport but fell for servo's instead. They do sound interesting though.

[Skiprat]

Hybrids are what i have and mentioned them earlier in the thread......excellent piece of kit and work brilliant.

I have two on the y axis, one on x and a smaller one on the z....all connected with leadshine drivers and purelogic boards....

Excellent but i did pay £2K+ for set up inc all power supplies etc...

Tommy

[m_c]

Andy, the main thing you have to consider, is what do you want to achieve?

Faster rapids, faster acceleration, better positioning, just to spend some money???

[JAZZCNC]

Andy, the main thing you have to consider, is what do you want to achieve?

Faster rapids, faster acceleration, better positioning, just to spend some money???

All Good Questions but also while at it ask your self WHY.?

Do you really need machine that travels at light speed.? . . . . . At this size I'd say 100% not.!!
Do you really need machine that goes from 0 to 100 in 0.01's.? . . . . . . . . . . . Probably not.!!
Can machine handle the higher speeds.? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Probably Not.!!
Can the rest of machine match the positioning accuracy.? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Probably not.!!

So only probable reason is because got money burning hole in pocket which is fine if your loaded.

[Chaz]

My Triac uses 400W Kinco servos and works well.

[andy_con]

were not talking about money here were talking about a good setup and a good setup doesn't come cheap.

anything is cheaper than buying datron or haas machine.

[JAZZCNC]

Closed loop steppers are just now becoming cheap enough to be worth thinking about. I've just started fitting them to machines but In truth they offer very little more than normal stepper (open loop) when sized and tuned correctly. The smaller ones do have the advantage of using 3phase motors which give smoother action than 2 phase but other than that there isn't any advantage in power terms.
The closed loop side isn't really anything to pay thru the nose for IMO because at best all it does is throw a fault if position is lost. Thou to be fair this is the same for servos which only close the loop between motor & drive rather than fully closing the loop back to control.

Servos however get there advantage from the smooth linear power and speed they provide but the same holds true that if pushed too hard or tuned to high they will still lose position and the only advantage then is the fact they fault the drive. However this does come with a cost, both in money and technical knowledge required. They don't tolerate any corner cutting in control system or sloppy ness in machine. This means often the cost doesn't stop at just buying the servos.
Standard steppers cannot do this but if sized correctly and tuned correctly they are very accurate and reliable. They don't match servos in performance but they do Match Closed loop steppers in every way. They are simple and reliable which is why they suit DIY perfectly.