We have a special combo available for Phlatprinter guys! You get our easy to assemble 3 axis EZ driver board kit, 3pcs BRAND NEW (not used) 23-130-SS8 130oz single shaft stepper motors, parallel port cable, and 4' of 6 conductor cable all for only $159USD. ADD $16USD for USA shipping or $60USD for Int'l shipping. Qty's are limited. We recommend this 24VDC power supply: http://www.mpja.com/prodinfo.asp?number=17429+PS $24.95 plus shipping. PayPal to payments@hobbycnc.com with a comment as to what it is for. Thank You Dave Rigotti Hobbycnc.com
Good looking motor too. I ordered one to replace my Y. Haven't tested it yet, still wondering about the vref setting for these.
You get our easy to assemble 3 axis EZ driver board kit, How easy? Is it a board and lots of parts that need soldering? Nice deal btw
Any chance you have a special price on a stand alone EZ driver board kit for those of us that have already aquired steppers? -Glen
Good service. He helped me figure out the Vref now. I wasn't getting it. Now I do Should have it in tomorrow. For others that are slow like me. Vref will be: 2.96 with the stock board. I got that by Vref = 2*(Desired Current[which in these motors case is 1.48A])
If you have basic soldering skills, it is really simple and may take an hour of your time to assemble. The instructions are clear, but follow them and pay attention to where you place the components. Once they are soldered in, they are difficult to get out unless you have solder wick. I bought one of these for a backup, put it together, but have not used it yet. Have not even put power to it, so I don't know how reliable it is. The one caveat you should be aware of is the wiring is a a bit different than the easy-cnc controller. For easy-cnc, you only need 4 wires hooked up to the controller board, but with Hobby CNC board, you will need to connect the common wires which we now have taped together and not run to the board. For me, it would mean adding a few more wires running from the steppers to the controller board if and when I ever decide to put in it use. There is no socket mounted controller chip in the HobbyCNC version unlike easy-cnc. That could be a good or bad thing depending on how well the board holds up. The transistors or regulators that control the stepper do not have heat sinks. Again, not sure if that is good or bad. I have one of the 24V power supplies mentioned in the link as well. It does not come with a power cord by the way but you can't beat the price and it appears to be a pretty hefty power supply.
Flash, when you wrote the part about having to connect more than 4 wires the first thing that came to my mind is 'unipolar'. I then went to the link that Dorsal had put up, I don't know why Dave didn't do it in the first place, and it says there that it is a unipolar board. Running unipolar gives less torque. There are many unipolar boards out there, most of them way cheaper than the bipolar ones. I didn't get any of them because I didn't want to give up on the torque. I bought a board that I'm not happy with and will recommend to stay away from, but it is a bipolar board. From all I've read the best thing in the lower price range is the easycnc(SP) one. Yoram
OOps! I never noticed the boards are UNIpolar. That certainly makes a difference in performance specs, doesn't it.
This Is NOT the package we are talking about. It isn't on our website so no link could be included. HobbyCNC.com
Look again at the torque ratings of the package you mention. 90oz vs 130oz for the HobbyCNC offer. How's that giving up torque???? HobbyCNC.com
The giving up torque is when you look at this particular stepper and you see that in bipolar it has 185oz. Yoram
What Dave was saying is that his motors are rated 130 oz-in unipolar (185 bipolar) vs the 90 oz-in bipolar steppers from easycnc. $159 vs. $295 easycnc. He also sells 205 and 305 oz in unipolars. I have a couple HobbyCNC boards and they work flawlessly. Yes, you do have to soldier them but I like that and saves $. You can add heatsinks but I dont use them or need them . HobbyCNC has great service too. Nice support group on Yahoo. Dan
We have a special deal with easycnc. It's $230 shipped for phlatclub memebers and that's with a power supply. I haven't heard anyone here say anything bad about the mechatronics board, either. So it's a known product and you get support from other members here, if you have problems. Plus, it's assembled and you can easily replace the controller chips. The only bad thing is the steppers are used. When I tested my, they all seem to run differently. I picked the worst one and put it on my Z-Axis. But it seem to run fine. I was actually running faster then most reported and I never even got the chance to adjust it higher, before tearing it apart. There are 76 phlatprinter's out there, so that's the extra business easycnc has recieved for their trouble. And many more sales to come. I find HobbyCNC, so far, hasn't made much of an effort to answer people's questions or answered in a so-so quick manner. I hope this explains better the dynamics here. You are probably not going to get much in the way of sales here, unless you can convince at least one knowledgeable member here to buy and present a review. I actually might be in the market for 3 larger steppers for my MK2 build. -Kwok
I have just purchased a PP and am in the market for a board, I already have purchased a set of the stock steppers from Ebay, and thus only have need of a board, Thus My question above.
I am running the Hobby CNC package with the 205 oz steppers, but I got it thru Rural Routers www.mikebeck.org He offers a "Plug-n-play" setup already wired. I have had no problems with running this board.
Seems I'm not wanted here as the owner has a "special" deal with Easy-CNC. The package is no longer available. Sorry for the trouble HobbyCNC.com
Dave Rigotti, sometimes people here might be a little over-protective of the performance of the PP. In a sense, they've helped develop some of its capabilities, and are protective of them for that reason. I'm sure if you talked to M&T (the PhlatBoyz at phlatboyz.com) they could help you present your product in a manner or at a time that didn't ruffle feathers. Email them.
I personally think its great that we have another outfit trying to give a good deal to us Phlatheadz Thanks! Shaun
I was partially addressing the post, before mine, about the comparison in prices which was simply wrong. Just presented the facts. Dave you posted this offer in a stepper motor discussion forum, but then get upset when it's discussed. We do have a forum here for strictly selling cnc stuff. I don't understand why you haven't made more of an effort to introduce yourself and promote your product here? No one is forces to buy from Easy-CNC. It's their option. -Kwok
Oh I somehow missed that post. Thats messed up. Well I guess I should say it was nice that we HAD a chance to have other options. Dave...unless Mark stated he didn't want you to post any deals here I wouldn't let anybody else get under your skin. Shaun
Dave, I think I speak for many of us. Please do not feel offended or rejected. This is after all, a discussion forum and good or bad, we discuss pros and cons of all aspects of the phlatprinter. Believe me, I am no fan of easycnc. Hectors service is practically non-existant and the steppers are refurbished junk (IMHO), yet that was the vendor Mark and Trish chose when they first started building the MK1. If there are better alternatives out there, we WANT to know about them! The easycnc controller board has issues such as the controller chip burning out or working loose in the socket and causing erratic cuts. It is not the panacea of CNC machines. I have one of your controller boards and the power supply you recommended as it so happens. Only thing is, I have never put power to either one as yet so I cannot review its performance other than to discuss the ease of building it and the wiring issues that it presents. A response to my own post in response to yours enlightened me to the differences in unipolar - bipolar stepper torque of which I was unaware. Not being from a mechanical world myself, things like this are little nuggets of information we can all share in as we learn more about our hobby. If you really want to promote your product, jump in here and discuss why you think it is a better alternative to what we are now using. Price is not always the only thing that sways us to choose one product over another. If we have issues such as the bipolar unipolar wiring challenges your product presents, maybe you can learn a little something from us as well. The MK1 will probably not be the last CNC machine I make. I have my eye on some other ideas as well. Let's hear what you have to say. I for one will listen.