Hi, I need advice and direction. 4 Axis CNC Stepper Motor Driver TB6560AHQ Board Controller Router Mach3 KCAM4 item #251901027087 on ebay. Is this what I'd need to run Mach 3 on my machine? Would I need anything else? If I read it correctly this is a "bob" and drivers on one board. I don't have the experience to know the difference so I'm asking for help. Right now it is set up with an XPro board but I want to run Mach 3. Would I be better off with 4 drivers and a separate bob? Thanks for the help guys.
You can use that board or one similar like this one that will handle up to 5A motors: http://www.ebay.com/itm/400831779215?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT Chinese Disclaimer These boards are hit and miss, most of the time the quality is less than good. Support is usually non existent. Also, from what I understand, even though they "rate" them at 3.5 or 5A the chips usually can only handle 1/2 to 2/3's of that reliably. Unless you're good with sorting things out on your own might be better off to spend a bit extra and get a good quality BOB and driver setup with alot of support behind it.. But both of those use the LPT port which is becoming extinct. I would shoot for a board that at least has a USB input. LPT seems like it always had configuration issues and timing problems. Plus your limited on available pins for things like touch plates and limit switches. There are boards like the smoothstepper from Warp9 that piggyback on to BOBs and can emulate up to 3 LPT ports plus use either USB or Ethernet as a input All my machines use separate BOB's and drivers, makes it easier to diagnose issues and if something goes wrong I can replace just the bad part, not the whole thing. That being said there are good BOB/driver combos out there that work with Mach 3. Gecko 540 is one of them. Great support !
Thanks for the reply. I know little to nothing about these electronics. I have a small cnc that runs off of Mach3, LPT. I came into an open build 2'x4' machine. Since I know a little about Mach3 I figure I'd stick with that. The version I have now runs on LPT so I figure I'd have to stick with that. I'm so d(*&*%&*mned confused I don't know which way is up. Thanks for your advice. Separate drivers is the way I'll go.
