Are there other affordable options for a main board for this cnc machine? For instance, could i use this board for $20 to control the cnc machine or do only rambo boards work?
Several people are using the SKR 1.3. Personally I think it would be a bit if a headache unless you’re using fancy features of the trinamic drivers.
To keep it simple I use MKS Gen L 1.0, which is essentially like a ramps board. You have to set the driver current with potentiometers on the drivers, and it is not protected against certain types of exploding from miswiring (I’ve killed one) but if you have the time and interest you can save on cost.
I was running a ramps up until last month. Only upgraded because I had an opportunity to try something new.
which ramps board in specific? and why did you choose a ramps board?
Ramps 1.4
I chose it because the rambo didn’t exist when I first built my machine.
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Rambo has been out longer than the mpcnc. Ryan didn’t start selling it until a few years ago though.
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That’s crazy cheap though. Would be a great incentive to make it work.
Yes it is, I upgrade one of my 3D Printers with it after the Menzi board burn out…cost me a little over $50 with TMC2130 driver
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Fair enough. I bought the Ramps from Ryan pre-loaded with the firmware. So I guess the Rambo just didn’t exist in his shop yet.
I do remember the thread where he first started discussing switching to the Rambo. I thought it was still a new board at that time, but I guess not.
did you have to do anything different to get the ramps to work?
Not that I recall. You do need to very carefully configure the voltage on the stepper drivers using a small screw driver. That’s a bit of a headache.
Everything else worked fine. I made sure I had good cooling on the stepper drivers.
There seems to be a lot more push to use the Rambo boards now, but I think that has more to do with availability in the shop and the fact that Ryan will send them pre-loaded with the firmware for you. The Ramps would require a bit more work on your end to flash the firmware. The Ramps also doesn’t like to be wired up wrong.
My MPCNC is really light on features. I don’t use end stops and I don’t have spindle control. I also didn’t have a touch plate while using the Ramps setup. I did have the LCD for running the CNC machine off of a SD card.
Once I got the active cooling on the stepper drivers, I don’t recall any cut failures do to the controller.
Ryan used to order ramps kits, set the drivers, flash the firmware, and test them out and sell then for about $50. But he was rejecting so many while testing, and some simple mistakes on the user end would trash them too. He sold both mini rambos and ramps for a while. But eventually, it just didn’t make sense to do the ramps. They were 10x the work and customers weren’t happy.
A while later, he worked on the dual endstop feature, which seemed like it would be a niche feature. That’s when I remember seeing the first Rambo here. He still has a configuration for the ramps board in his github. But the ramps traffic has died down a lot, so I’m not confident that will last forever. There was some talk of a community supported srk configuration. I hope that moves forward soon. But it is not ready today.
IMO, if you are ok with the risk and the work, then the ramps is fine. There have been some really long threads with people trying to get the ramps working. Sometimes buying multiple copies of them, and it would have been the same price to have bought a mini rambo and just plugged it in. I would not suggest someone with a working ramps, and no plans to update it change to a rambo.
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FWIW, I got a Ramps knock-off (with A4988s), already fried the 5V regulator (not planning on fixing, as I don’t have the dexterity or eyesight for SMD replacement), and plan on using that with dual power supplies until I manage to kill it. Then I’ll probably switch to the SKR 1.3 with TMC2209s in UART mode. I’m very familiar with building software, and I have no problems meddling around with the configurations to get it working.
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So you are going to finish your build?
I need to get up and start working on the series wiring harness so I can test out LinuxCNC that I have ready to go. Day offs are a fine balance between doing nothing and enjoying it, and accomplishing something and feeling that reward.
I just set up an skr 1.3 with drv8825’s for dual endstops and i was clueless. With a little help from forum posts, documentation that’s available from bigtree, and a few youtube videos on how to install and navigate platformio, i managed to get it working. Can’t beat the price with a stick.
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That LCD12864 simulator is sexy
Feel free to document your build for others… https://docs.v1engineering.com/ 
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I’m not sure where to start with that. What’s the difference between it and doing a build thread?
I can’t seem to find what others have documented. How do i get there?
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@jeffeb3 can help you… 
Let’s see if we can put a skr 1.3 page under the control tab. I’ll try it out. I’m wanting to do a LinuxCNC eventually, so this would be good practice. Now if I can only find my github password!