What controller?

I have an Arduino Uno with GRBL, a screw proto shield to attach the wires and four Chinese controllers.
They worked the first time and every time since. Nothing gets hot.
I have it hooked to an old laptop running Universal G-Code Sender.

The only issue I've had is the Y-Axis gets off by 1/16" every so often and I can't figure out why. It only matters when I am doing precision stuff and it doesn't happen all the time. I think it has something to do with the number of steps I have the controllers set to. The more you have, the less torque there is. The machine is in another State and I won't get back to it until Spring.

If I had it to do all over again, I would do the same thing. In fact, I'm building a Rotary Ox shortly and have already purchased the same electronics.

 

You're definitely getting it.

One difference, I think, if I'm reading you correctly, the Arduino interprets the G-Code and sends the outputs for pulse and direction to the controllers. In neither case that you describe does the G-Code make it past the processor. The BOB just interprets the parallel signals and sends them to the correct output. Mach 3 does the conversion.

I don't think either is better, just different. The Arduino system is cheaper because the software is free and the hardware is cheap.
The computer to run it does need to be a little more powerful than that required for Mach 3. It has to handle the USB overhead as well as communications. There is no overhead with a parallel port.

You can spend from $5 to well over $100 for a single stepper controller. I guess you get what you pay for as I've never heard of anyone having problems with a really expensive one. I tend to shy away from the multiple driver boards because if one goes bad, you're screwed. There's a lot of discussions concerning the Chinese controller reliability, but mine seem to be working as designed.

If you have several hundred dollars, in addition to the Mach 3 software and don't mind spending it, go for it. Buy the name brand boards. You won't be disappointed. You can buy cheap hardware for a Mach 3 system, too.

If you're a skinflint like me and count your pennies, save your money and build an Arduino system. If you find it doesn't perform to your liking, go the Mach 3 route. I have around $60 in my hardware. As I said, I'm building a Rotary Ox and will probably end up converting it to Mach 3 sooner or later because Mach 3 handles the rotary axis better.

With my Ox, I think I will always be happy with the Arduino control. As a disclaimer, I've been working with Arduinos for years and really like building projects with them. They are easy to program and interface and I've never had one fail.

 

I believe that Mach 3 costs $300.
You can download a free version that only handles up to 500 lines, I believe.
That isn't enough to do anything practical. My programs usually end up with 50,000 line or more.
Curves take up a lot of commands.
They are working on Mach 4 now, but from what I hear, it has a ways to go.
Mach 3 was written by Art Fenerty, who has moved on and written the Gearotic software since he left ArtSoft.

Here's the GRBL software:
grbl/grbl · GitHub

Here's the Arduino IDE:
Arduino - Software

You use the IDE to program the board, either independently or to load the GRBL software.
There are compiled versions that you can load to the board directly, but I don't recommend them.
If they don't work, you have no idea what to do to fix it. There are default settings in there that vary, depending on your motors and controllers, etc. Using the IDE means you have to learn a little more, but it's all stuff you need. Hook up your board and run it through some sample programs. It will amaze you. There's tons of stuff about Arduino and GRBL on the net, spend a little time looking. It's not complicated at all, but there are some tricks you will need to know.

That gets you an operational GRBL programmed board. Then you need an interface to get the G-Code from the PC to the Arduino.
There are several choices, I have had the best luck with this one:
winder/Universal-G-Code-Sender · GitHub
Currently, there seems to be a problem between JAVA and the current version. Hopefully it will get straightened out soon. Until then, use the nightly build. There is a start-windows.bat that allows you to run it with minimal difficulty.
You may have better luck with a different one. You should uncover several more when researching GRBL and reading the forum.

GRBL is changing, use the latest version. I hear that they are shortly going to port it over to the Mega. It is amazing to me that they have gotten so much from the Uno. It is slow and doesn't have a lot of memory.
Look under the Control Software section of this forum. Sonny Jeon is the lead developer for the GRBL project and he has a section there, if you have questions.

Look under the CNC Mills/Routers >OpenBuilds OX CNC Machine>Files. The Sketchup file is in there. It's buried in a couple of other projects, too. Also, you can find them in the Parts store. There is also a version with the C-Beam Z-Axis. I don't remember exactly where I got mine.

I hope this at least points you in the right direction.

I may have fallen for the bait, but you're the one that has to do all the research and learning.

 

The ATMega328 is the processor chip on the board.
The Uno and the Mega are basically the same board except the Mega has more input/output lines and more memory.
They both run at the same 16Mhz speed. Look for Arduino Mega. They only cost a couple of dollars more than the Uno.
There are sites, including the GRBL site that tell what you need to change to run GRBL on the Mega. I believe it only involves a couple of variables and maybe a couple of wires. Don't remember exactly. There is no benefit right now, not until GRBL gets ported over to make use of the additional memory.

If you look up Arduino, you will find out they make a lot of different boards, all open source, so a lot of people make them.
There are also some "clones" that can run faster. The faster boards and some of the smaller slow ones, have 3.3 volt in/out while the Uno and Mega have 5 volt in/out. It's not much of a difference, but you do have to be careful what you connect to them. Almost, if not all the 5 volt boards will respond to 3.3 volt signals, but 5 volts may blow a 3.3 volt board. They sell converters to go back and forth. Got a little off track there, just something to be aware of.

If you are interested in that sort of thing, you can get the schematic online and build your own.
It's satisfying and a great way to learn electronics, but not worth it to me since the boards are so cheap.

 

Hi,

ATmega328 is the processor used on the Arduino UNO and Atmega2560 is the one used on the Arduino MEGA.
Both the same processor family but code written for one will not automatically run on the other.
In case of Arduino sketches it does not matter much because the Arduino IDE automatically applies the necessary changes - but GRBL ist not an Arduino sketch and so you need to compile it for the intended device.

If you use an Arduino UNO you can also use Estlcam as CNC controller.
Especially the jog controls are much more convenient compared to GRBL: