not much, but thanks
ok, here are my findings of the settings, and such.
the steppers run smoothest at the setting for L298 preset, not so much at the blue board settings.
more importantly, i noticed the noise was actually the steppers stalling. admittedly, i do have to clean and lube the machine, but i suspect that is just the sign pointing to the real problem. i don't think my cheap Chinese drivers are supplying the 5A that the seller stated they would produce, so my steppers don't have the get-up, n go to get over the small bumps of debris. i suspected that may be the case, but i had hopes that it would work anyway.
I have ordered, and i am currently waiting for the recommend slide and screw grease to arrive from amazon (no local suppler). when it arrives, i will completely clean and lube the machine, and see if it still stalls. i have dosed the machine with WD40 when i got it to prevent rust, but that is it so far.
~Travis