Hi, I've been lurking a while. Aqurired most of the parts i need from openbuilds to make a couple machines. large and small. during this lock-down, its a good time to actually work on it i suffer from too many projects syndrome. i had got an arduino and CNC sheild on the advice of someone a couple years ago. Now that the tire is hitting the road, i do not want to go that route...so to speak. i want FULL control using Mach3 or LinuxCNC. i'm still in the researching, overwhelmed with information overload. What i need to do NOW is order myself a good Controller board that will do all that. I would like to bite the bullet and get one that will do me for life. i'll make a portable box that can work wiht both the large and small machines. put decent panel connectors on it. I am looking for recommendations of a good controller that won't break the bank obviously there is the BlackBox Motion Control System from OpenBuilds. What else out there is good, that folks here are using and like? I am personally leaning to PoKeys57CNC Motion Controller ...... Thoughts? Thanks Barry
Smart move to avoid the CNC shield. Especially if it is a clone that is obsolete. The BlackBox will not work with Mach 3. However, if you are avoiding GRBL controllers because you are worried about limitations, bCNC is very powerful and Estlcam - disclaimer: I use it and love it - would work with a BlackBox and is a great and inexpensive ($59) controller and CAM software in one that has a ton of features. You can use an Xbox controller, a jog wheel, or the computer keypad as a controller for jogging and the probing features are great. I use the circular center finding feature a lot for round stock. You can also put the hold down clamp locations into your CAM and it will avoid them while machining the parts. The youtube channel has a lot of valuable info as well. Estlcam: 2D / 3D CAM und CNC Steuerung... A lot of people like to send their code wirelessly, and Estlcam does not have that feature. Personally, I do not need that feature because I would hate to have a 10 hour job crapped up due to EM interference. Also, I like to use my Xbox controller for jogging while zeroing my XYZ so I need a computer anyway.
