richie - thanks mate for your reply. It could be something like that causing a slight bind but I was unable to replicate any real significant difference in 'feel' during pushing the axis' by hand.

Sooooo, what did I do next? Well after getting really fed up with it all. I decided to take the advice of you guys especially jazz and his recommendations and I went shopping...

I bought MX3660 - 3-Axis DSP Based Digital Stepper Drive Max 60 VDC / 6.0A


SPS487. 48V unregulated power supply

3x SY60STH86-3008B Nema 23 Stepper motors

I also bought the screened cable recommended in another thread and rewired all 3 motors back to the control box. I’ve earthed all cables at the box end and replaced all components. It all fits nicely in my blue box too.

After all of this I have fired her up and she is running perfectly. No more stalling, missed steps, or dodgy inconsistent cuts!!!

Just want to say thanks to all you guys and to Jazz for his kit recommendations. So much smoother, quieter and working well! Now I finally have a machine I am happy to work with at last.

cheers guys. :-)

Got a few questions to ask about my setup to perfect it. But will ask them later. just wanted to let you guys know how it turned out!

thanks andy