3 Axis CNC router

[Neale]

I agree that in an ideal world, steppers would be hard-wired in one cable run back to the drivers. I have used XLR because I had originally wired the steppers back to a DIN terminal rail and it was a right pain to wire them in each time that the box came off the machine while I was building and testing. I had the connectors available from my previous machine so chose to use them. I'll probable unplug them all soon and dose them with a bit of switch-cleaner to try to keep them sweet.

You have a rather larger cabinet than I am using. Good idea! Mine is a bit cramped (hence the wiring/unwiring problem mentioned) and it would have been good to have had a bit more space. As it turned out, my control box just fits the available space on the underframe of the router so it came right in the end. The overall layout you are proposing looks fine to me. In particular, signal wires from the IP/M (good choice!) will run down the opposite side of the cabinet from mains wiring, and are also well away from the stepper cables. Since you have gone to the expense of the IP/M, I'm assuming that you will be using differential signal wires between IP/M and drivers? If you can get a bit of UTP cable, the twisted pairs in that make good interconnects for this purpose.

On the subject of wiring, are you planning to use wiring/bootlace ferrules? I came across these, fortunately shortly before I started putting my control box together, when someone here posted a link to a good offer on eBay or somesuch. You can get the crimp tool kits from AliExpress fairly cheaply (something like this). They make wiring easier and safer - no loose strands of wire waiting to short on neighbouring terminals, better clamping in screw terminals, etc.

It's all coming together - good luck with the wiring!