Quote Originally Posted by jimbowley View Post
Would I be right to assume that smaller (more) steps is harder for the electronics to do / more likely to go wrong ?
No it's the Parallel port that struggles not the electronics. The higher the steps the more pulses required for the same distance hence why the higher the step count the slower the machine can be tuned with the set Kernal speed in Mach3.

Going higher on the steps helps smooth the motors but works the PP harder and this can cause missed steps if it's struggling.

8 is a good setting and I would leave it there.

Regards the drive problems check the STep & Dir connections at the drive giving the trouble this as been a cause of trouble in the past on these machines along with shity wire quality.

Spindle will run for ages 1 hour + without cooling if not under load. I've often cut small jobs without turning my pump on.