Hi All,
Great to be here. Really looking forward to learning a bit more.
I am not new to woodworking, but I am looking to branch out to CNC work. By virtue of pulling apart a scrapped 3D printer, I have a number of bits of high-quality rails, bearing mounts, steppers, screw drives etc. The control of these was via proprietary boards, so nothing to save there.
It seems to me that there are a number of ways forward to make a CNC:
1. A raspberry pi with a screen, driving stepper motor controllers,
2. A computer driving an Arduino, driving stepper motor controllers,
3. A proprietary board, often including the drivers,
4. Some combination of 1,2 or 3.
My question: is there a sensible process that anyone knows of that might determine the best way forward. I suspect 1 and 2 require some programming skills, which I have, whilst 3 is more expensive (someone else has done the work).
I am open to any and all suggestions on this. I would not say money is no object, but I am not averse to paying for quality equipment. I am also not averse to installing and programming an Arduino or RasPi.
Your help is appreciated.
Great to be here. Really looking forward to learning a bit more.
I am not new to woodworking, but I am looking to branch out to CNC work. By virtue of pulling apart a scrapped 3D printer, I have a number of bits of high-quality rails, bearing mounts, steppers, screw drives etc. The control of these was via proprietary boards, so nothing to save there.
It seems to me that there are a number of ways forward to make a CNC:
1. A raspberry pi with a screen, driving stepper motor controllers,
2. A computer driving an Arduino, driving stepper motor controllers,
3. A proprietary board, often including the drivers,
4. Some combination of 1,2 or 3.
My question: is there a sensible process that anyone knows of that might determine the best way forward. I suspect 1 and 2 require some programming skills, which I have, whilst 3 is more expensive (someone else has done the work).
I am open to any and all suggestions on this. I would not say money is no object, but I am not averse to paying for quality equipment. I am also not averse to installing and programming an Arduino or RasPi.
Your help is appreciated.