Quote Originally Posted by saxonhawthorn View Post
Correct. And you are also correct that I am thinking in terms of designing my own driver board - mostly from sheer habit, but also because that way I end up with exactly what I want (or alternatively, have only myself to blame if I don't).
You probably won't believe this but I think I have to mention that you may be making beginner's mistake. I won't be saying, "I told you so", but you can assume that :naughty::rofl:

Yes, you could gain vast extra control by making a seperate computer to interface Windows to your machine, but you would do well to stick with commercial stepper drivers and PSU.

Given the price of a humble MSD542 it really isn't worth the nightmare of trying to recreate it