I have a Sphinx 55 running on the original Blackbox controller and really like the functionality of the entire ecosystem. I am looking to add a "cnc-ready" Taig ballscrew mill to my menagerie of CNC machines and considering using a Blackbox X32 and a set of hi torque steppers for the electronics on the Taig. My research has been confusing since it appears that most of the Taig enthusiasts use a 48V system with the Gecko540 stepper drivers and Mach3 with some vintage parallel port electronics thrown in. (Seems like a step in the wrong direction - but maybe there are advantages I am not completely in the know about?) I don't really want to have to buy a windows machine to run the Taig and would prefer to stay with Linux or MacOs. Opinions? Suggestions? Experiences? Thanks, Randale
Just the thing that was popular at the time. Mach3's been dead since 2012 BlackBox will do just fine. You are pairing our motors, with their ideal electrical specs tailored to our controller and our PSU.
Thanks for the ultra-quick response. My major use for the Taig is high precision engraving in resin on the order of 0.2-0.4 mm width traces with some additional less precise tasks cutting aluminum for small jigs used to make things. I don't really require high speed production performance. Out of curiosity, what benefits do you get from a higher voltage system? Speed? Does it affect the precision in any way? Thanks! Randale
With the same motor, yes, higher voltage = more speed. But its not the same motors. Its newer, its custom made for us, its not the 1990s high inductance, high coil voltage motors. Ours have 3v coils (making a 24v PSU have an 8x overhead). The older stuff was 6-12v coils (48v giving only 4x overhead). The "extra" voltage is just used to overcome BackEMF and give speedy rise times. Not a worry - again - we've spec'ed our motors to be ideal for the rest of our ecosystem We also spec'ed out the other values (not just voltage) to be ideal (Current, resistance, inductance, etc) Voltage no. Steppers have hard intents (200 per rotation) - with microsteps in between. For us thats 1/8th microstepping, giving you 1600 clicks per rotation. What's your leadscrew pitch on your machine? Lets assume the worst - 10TPI, which is 2.54mm per rotation. 2.54mm ÷ 1600 steps per rotation = 0.0015875mm per step. Plenty fine (If google was right on the leadscrew pitch)
