I've been gathering parts to build a CNC milling machine capable of milling aluminium and steel. I have the base of a warco round-column mill to which I'm going to mount a very robust 6" square column and figure on using a heavy linear rail arrangement to carry the head, which I'm going to make myself.

I have some redundant axis control hardware coming - not sure what just yet - I got a call from a friend who is stripping it out of a machine for me.

I already have this hardware, which I'm told is a servo motor with a driver that can use step-and-direction inputs.

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The stuff I'm told I have coming is similar motor type but with servo drivers and encoders. What I'm not clear about is how, or even whether, it's prudent to combine the two different types of drive/motor combinations in one installation, what the pitfalls might be and whether a program like Mach3 can even deal with encoder-resolved steppers, and if not, what my software options are.

You can gather that I'm awfully green in the world of CNC. I'm not daunted but I'd appreciate some direction from those in the know.

Pete.