I have a 15 year old CNC Jr by CNC Masters. It's basically a Harbor Freight belt driven mill with a Nema 23 stepper bolted onto each of the 3 axis. It's kind of a POS, but it gets the job done... sometimes? LOL The Z and Y axis keep reversing randomly, mid-program. Unplug the controller and reboot, all is well until it randomly does it again. I've checked the heck out of the stepper wiring and can't find faults, intermittent or otherwise. That leaves me to conclude the nasty, 15 year old, 1992-looking driver cards in the controller are going out on me. I ain't paying $4k+ for a new comtroller from CNC Masters just to wind up with the same questionable performance and limitations. I'm thinking it may be time to just rip that hunk of junk off and bolt on some kind of universal controller, maybe with a better software package too . Catch is I don't even know where to start. Can you experienced folks point me in the direction of good, affordable controllers and software packages that would work here?
Grab a CNC Electronics Bundle Full refresh is best, then you know it will all work together See https://docs.openbuilds.com/blackbox-x32 to learn how to wire it up See docs:software:overview [OpenBuilds Documentation]
See, that looks like what I need Two questions though: 1. How much umpf do those motors have? I ask because for all it's faults, the motors on this pig are pretty stout. Just want to make sure if I replace them I magch or beat what's there. 2. How does it play with SolidWorks CAM? I wound up having to fork over $1500 to get a custom post processor writen to interface SW CAM with the Jr. controller. I'm'a cry if I have to go through that all over again, LOL.
the link i found for the machine says it has nema34 motors which are bigger than nema23 = more power. that is why I suggest the high torque motors (from openbuilds of course, if you cannot find a way to swap out the stock motors the HT ones just contact the store) , there is a lot of mass to move compared to a router type machine . The standard GRBL post processor will work properly with Solidworks and the Blackbox. We do have a post for Fusion360 though, should you consider changing.
