x3 and steppers

[tomrux]

??????? has anybody put steppers on an x3. just looking for clues as to how big I need to go. thinking of nema23s with about 175 in/oz through something like 4 to 1 reduction toothed belts. Not looking for top speeds just nice n easy.

Tom

[pete3000]

great writeup on ARC's site, http://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/projects/X3-CNC/X3cncIndex.html

Dick Stephen goes into the calculations etc. Ketan at ARC is vey knowledgable on the cnc side.
I aim to complete mine one day and have some powermax II steppers. May be worth considering retaining the handles though if you want to manually use the mill afterwards, either through belt drive or stepper with two ended spindle.

something like ARC's £30 6mm -1/4" 180Nm steppers should work well

[woodguy]

I have converted my SX3 using 276 oz in on X and Y and 434 oz in on Z.  I also fitted a gas strut on Z.

As to handles, I strongly recommend a Z-bot or similar jog dial for manual use.  http://littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=3414&category=1963256893

The top buttons select an axis and the outer of the 2 dials increases the feed speed the further you rotate forward or backward (it is spring loaded). The inner dial goes in steps and has a detent which you can feel as you rotate it.

My original intent was to have power feeds on all axes but as I went along I discovered that manual use of the cnc mill is extremely easy this way and you have the benefits of cnc when you want them.

For a while I kept the DRO along with the CNC conversion but that was eventually taken off.

[SmoggyTurnip]

I did mine. I used:

one NEMA 34  906 oz-in for Z.
two NEMA 23  381 oz-in for X and Y.

Here is my build log:
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/x3_sx3_g0619_g0463/118706-build_thread_x3_g0602.html

[Majorstrain]

I used 387's on x and y. 1200 on z without a gas strut.
It's all direct drive with 16x5 ball screws.

No problem cutting at 1000mm/min. Rapids I've limited to 2000mm/min. No missed steps.

Cheers,
Phil