Some Background:
A fellow forum member suggested I start this thread.
I have a 3018 machine which I have become accustomed to. I’ve milled from aluminum a custom horn button for my Shelby Daytona replica on it. Some name plates in brass and a couple laser projects.
The machine is limited though. It’s limited by the spindle mainly otherwise it’s very capable. Obviously it’s size but that’s someone an advantage with limited space.
I do love the GRBL universe.
The Dilemma
I want to run my MPCNC on GRBL
Solution 1:
3018 controller stepper motors in series - use it till I nuke it. Might be over taxing it but I figure if it can run a spindle, and 3 steppers how can it not run 5 steppers and a relay for a self powered spindle?
Solution 2:
Arduino Uno with CNC shield and A4988 drivers - gives me 4 axis in case I ever figure out turning or laser engraving a cylindrical object. Probably will run forever.
Solution 3: Arduino Uno with TB6600 drivers - probably super overkill and most time consuming to setup but very robust I imagine.
My Question
Has anyone run the MPCNC Primo off the 3018 board? If so any regrets or massive failure I should be aware of. I feel like starting out simple with a 3018 board, get it built get it running and then upgrade the electronics with time. What are peoples thoughts?
I am super new at this with little experience. I wasn’t born with this knowledge sadly so don’t be afraid to explain it to me like I’m in kindergarten.
The only limiting factor with using your 3018 stepper motors will be the power they can deliver and without specific numbers it is impossible to say if they are meaty enough. Ryan sells 76oz/in steppers, check if your 3018 has at least the same. The board should be fine although I think I wouldn’t bother trying to control the spindle from the board, I would use a manual control. An Uno is getting a bit ‘old hat’ now, perhaps if thinking about upgrading then look at ESP32 running fluidnc.
Not sure what a 3018 has as far as driver chips, but likely 4988’s unless otherwise specified. You can run the steppers in series; if that’s been working so far anyways then not sure how just switching to grbl would change that. A uno sheild with 4988 is pretty old school and reliable, but you did mention lasers. When you get into laser images, limited resources of your controller will end up limiting how fast you can etch. Even a new 32bit board may not go as fast as your machine could without some tweaks to buffers etc. So with lasers in mind, I’d probably step up to 32bit with fluidnc like mike mentioned. That also gives you another board to cut with in case adapting to grbl doesn’t go as quickly as planned.
You didn’t mention, but another future possibility may be a VFD spindle? If you think so, you may want to look in to options that have rs485 (aka modbus) support to go with that. Also, not all boards are equal… ones with isolated and buffered i/o, schmitt triggers, etc, will cost more but they will be much more reliable (no glitchy end stops or buttons etc). Along those lines, I can recommend Bart’s GRBL esp32 6-pack boards. They’re a bit spendy compared to the usual, but well designed with flexible options for IO (including rs485, 10V, etc).