My first ever built CNC router.

[JAZZCNC]

Thank you for the reply JazzCnc. Fortune paid on me with the steppers and drivers as after a mix up I got my money back and for some reason they also delivered them anyway. What would be your recommendation of Steppers and drivers (budget wise)? Currently I'm looking at the Nema 23, 2.2NM (8 wire) ones from CNC4YOU with the CW5045 stepper drivers with a 48v power supply.

This is easy to answer.!! . . . I wouldn't fit a standard stepper system these days because for the same or similar money you can better get a closed loop system like this one below. Closed loop system gives you more piece of mind that your not losing steps because the encoder tracks position and the drive corrects any following errors.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hybrid-Se...cAAOSw4vVdgef7

The Cnc4you drives are ok but nothing special and you could probably buy the same things cheaper but if your happy with a standard setup and want a Uk supplier then they are ok. However, the drives are rated for 50V max so I wouldn't recommend you use 48v PSU, Ideally you need a 10% safety factor on the PSU due to the motor feeding power back into the drives. I think you'll find Cnc4you have a warning on there 48V PSU saying not to use with CW5045.! . . This is why.!)

I looked up your suggestions of controllers and will take them into consideration, more so the UC300 as the AXBB is going over my budget. I see alot of Chinese ethernet controllers - would they be any good for budget reasons? Currently I have an old laptop given to me by a friend with a parallel port so I'm planning on installing Linux CNC just to get me going for now.

I would give the Cheap Chinese controllers a miss, I've never used one but seen others with lots of problems from them.

The UC300 needs a Breakout board so it's not any cheaper than the AXBB and to get it's full potential you want a good breakout board that can use all it's ports etc.

I've seen you mention LinuxCNC.! You cannot use LinuxCNC with UC300 or the AXBB it's UCCNC or Mach3/4 only.
If your going to use Linux CNC and want to use Ethernet then you should be looking at Mesa cards. However for a simple setup then Linux CNC on the parallel port will be fine if your prepared to accept it's a little more complex than say Mach3 or UCCNC to setup.