I always prefer marlin for milling
but grbl also not bad for .
I am going to go GRBL I am finally wrapping my head around this. Seems like driving 5 motors from a 3 axis board isn’t an issue in series wiring. I have been enlightened so THANK YOU GUYS! So my next question.
I might make some gasp is horror but for some reason flashing the firmware and customizing it and getting it to work is making me nervous. My concerns are all firmware related. Can I just use this board from a 3018 Machine?
My reluctance on using an Arduino and CNC shield is again the issue of firmware and how to get that to interact with my hardware
Since I have the Laser from my 3018 I don’t need to buy that. I like controlling the machine from my laptop. I plan to control my spindle with a relay. I don’t plan to 3D print with it as I can’t imagine what I would want to print that would need this type of large format. I realize this likely would need a major upgrade if I ever wanted to do 4 axis. But the board cost is minimal.
Main question is do you thing I am going to nuke the 3018 board running 5 stepper motors on it?
Just get the Arduino and CNC shield. It’s actually pretty simple.
You probably could run the Primo off of your 3018 board with the motors in series, but the drivers are probably cheapo A4988s that will not manage 1A of current, nor aill the board be comfortable with the power demands of 5 motors. I would say that a CNC shield with at least 1.5A capable drivers is going to be less likely to give you headaches.
If you are not comfortable with flashing firmware though, the bast support that you will find around here will be with the pre configured firmware on the marlinbuilder releases page. I have used GRBL and Marlin, and from a user perspective, they aren’t much different. The computer end is very much similar. Having pre-configured firmware binaries makes it pretty easy.
If you do use your existing board, you will need to make up series wiring harnesses, and reconfigure steps/mm to 100, 100, 400. It is probably 400, 400, 400 (My 3018 is) probably you also want to adjust the driver current as well. Look up the specs for your drivers, since there are different ways that the current might be set, and what the reference voltages may be.
Uno + shield is more flexible in terms of driver usage.
The 3018 (most probably) might not be able to handle the 5 motors.
In the motor series connection I Don’t believe the problem is the current but the Lower voltage across the motors coils that will translate in more noisy operation and torque losses.
Flashing Grbl into an Uno is a no brainer with XLoader.