I think it is criminal, and very poor in resolution terms, to direct drive a lathe, either on x or on z. If threading is not important, any steppers should work, 3-5Nm, at 1:3. I am now going on to ac brushless servos and the cslabs 6 axis card. I have worked on getting good threading for many years. It is likely to solve the css and threading issue, especially with the cslabs hw pulse engine. There is soon to be a new mach, version 4. Time is immaterial, and costs are not decisive.Īccuracy is paramount, and surface finish is important. My lathe work is oriented for very good results. (Using a high end hw pulse generator, centipede. We verified this with a very high accuracy test logging into a file. The index pulse thingy is critical for threading - and most sensors are crap. I used 3Nm nema 23 size steppers with 1:3 drive, using HTD belts.Īnd a treadmill servo for z, again on 1:3. Centipede will not support Mach4, according to them. As-is, Mach3 does not thread and does not do CSS.ĬSLABS motion controller will thread (According to them, and very knowledgeable other users).
