Distance Traveled Per Motor Revolution

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03 Sep 2020 12:47 #180538 by dvn4life1972
My machine v1 was pretty choppy (aside from a backlash issue as well). It cut 10ga steel and thicker with a decent edge quality, but that would deteriorate the thinner below 10ga I tried to cut.

I retrofitted mine with 3:1 reduction rack and pinion and it's smooth as butter now...I think you'll really like it when you modify your table.

I had gone from a OX kit gantry to something considerably more rigid, which has helped as well. The gantry is definitely heavier now though. Rapids are at 1200ipm, which I had intended to only me 900ipm. I typo'd in the setup but it runs great.

The reduction brings me to 1.04" per rev from a R&P kit (I reused the same 570oz steppers) that consisted of the R&P plate, belt, pulley for my motor, hardware, tensioner. I used my decrepit v1 machine to cut the 1/4" steel riser plates and then the plates to mount up the gantry R&P as well.
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03 Sep 2020 15:44 - 03 Sep 2020 15:45 #180557 by snowgoer540

My machine v1 was pretty choppy (aside from a backlash issue as well). It cut 10ga steel and thicker with a decent edge quality, but that would deteriorate the thinner below 10ga I tried to cut.

I retrofitted mine with 3:1 reduction rack and pinion and it's smooth as butter now...I think you'll really like it when you modify your table.

I had gone from a OX kit gantry to something considerably more rigid, which has helped as well. The gantry is definitely heavier now though. Rapids are at 1200ipm, which I had intended to only me 900ipm. I typo'd in the setup but it runs great.

The reduction brings me to 1.04" per rev from a R&P kit (I reused the same 570oz steppers) that consisted of the R&P plate, belt, pulley for my motor, hardware, tensioner. I used my decrepit v1 machine to cut the 1/4" steel riser plates and then the plates to mount up the gantry R&P as well.


I'm running 570oz-in steppers as well. What kind of acceleration values are you using? Do you use microstepping?

Thanks for the post, it gives me encouragement! It's not like my table is BAD, but I just know it could be BETTER lol.
Last edit: 03 Sep 2020 15:45 by snowgoer540.
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03 Sep 2020 18:14 #180567 by dvn4life1972

My machine v1 was pretty choppy (aside from a backlash issue as well). It cut 10ga steel and thicker with a decent edge quality, but that would deteriorate the thinner below 10ga I tried to cut.

I retrofitted mine with 3:1 reduction rack and pinion and it's smooth as butter now...I think you'll really like it when you modify your table.

I had gone from a OX kit gantry to something considerably more rigid, which has helped as well. The gantry is definitely heavier now though. Rapids are at 1200ipm, which I had intended to only me 900ipm. I typo'd in the setup but it runs great.

The reduction brings me to 1.04" per rev from a R&P kit (I reused the same 570oz steppers) that consisted of the R&P plate, belt, pulley for my motor, hardware, tensioner. I used my decrepit v1 machine to cut the 1/4" steel riser plates and then the plates to mount up the gantry R&P as well.


I'm running 570oz-in steppers as well. What kind of acceleration values are you using? Do you use microstepping?

Thanks for the post, it gives me encouragement! It's not like my table is BAD, but I just know it could be BETTER lol.


I totally felt the same way leading up to the retrofit! I'm using 8x microstepping and it seems to work really nicely. I need to turn the amperage down a bit (it's at max and the motors get pretty warm, almost hot). I don't know what size your table is, mine is 4ft x 4ft cutting area.

I'm just using the same acceleration settings that pmcconf wizard plugged in, when I get outside later I'll pull the files and see exactly where that's set to and post it.

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03 Sep 2020 23:50 #180604 by snowgoer540

My machine v1 was pretty choppy (aside from a backlash issue as well). It cut 10ga steel and thicker with a decent edge quality, but that would deteriorate the thinner below 10ga I tried to cut.

I retrofitted mine with 3:1 reduction rack and pinion and it's smooth as butter now...I think you'll really like it when you modify your table.

I had gone from a OX kit gantry to something considerably more rigid, which has helped as well. The gantry is definitely heavier now though. Rapids are at 1200ipm, which I had intended to only me 900ipm. I typo'd in the setup but it runs great.

The reduction brings me to 1.04" per rev from a R&P kit (I reused the same 570oz steppers) that consisted of the R&P plate, belt, pulley for my motor, hardware, tensioner. I used my decrepit v1 machine to cut the 1/4" steel riser plates and then the plates to mount up the gantry R&P as well.


I'm running 570oz-in steppers as well. What kind of acceleration values are you using? Do you use microstepping?

Thanks for the post, it gives me encouragement! It's not like my table is BAD, but I just know it could be BETTER lol.


I totally felt the same way leading up to the retrofit! I'm using 8x microstepping and it seems to work really nicely. I need to turn the amperage down a bit (it's at max and the motors get pretty warm, almost hot). I don't know what size your table is, mine is 4ft x 4ft cutting area.

I'm just using the same acceleration settings that pmcconf wizard plugged in, when I get outside later I'll pull the files and see exactly where that's set to and post it.


Good deal, thank you!. My table travel is just shy of 52" x 52", I designed it around the rack length so I didnt have to waste any, and I shortened the travel a bit so it cant run off the tracks. The water pan is a bit larger at 54" X 70". Just tried to maximize area around the racks, frame etc.

I am not sure what drivers you are running? If you are driving KL-5056e (or D), I have mine set at the max amperage, and they dont get hot. I would wonder the position of your SW4 Switch. That's holding amperage, and Off is Full, and On is Half current. What that is is holding amperage. On a ball screw milling machine, you might want full holding current to make sure an axis that isnt moving doesnt move during a heavy cut. On plasma it's not necessary, so I turned mine ON so they are half current. Usually this is the first place to look when they are getting hot.
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04 Sep 2020 09:54 #180638 by rodw
Steppers are meant to get hot. Its perfectly safe to allow that provided the temperature does not exceed the specifications for insulation melt down that is usually quoted in the data sheet. Usually that is too hot to touch!
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04 Sep 2020 15:37 #180691 by dvn4life1972
Sounds like dimensionally our machines are pretty similar, except the waterpan size. Mine was a quick thing to make (I was in a hurry), only about 48x48-ish but it doesn't leak and it holds the material just fine.

I have KL-5056 drivers...I did set them for the reduced amperage while holding. I'm not quite as concerned with the temps as I am with running the drivers at max output amps (when not really needed). Just thinking about longevity and reliability, nit-picking at my machine to improve it more.

I attached my .ini and .hal files if you wanna compare anything.

X and Y:

Axis MAX_ACCELERATION = 60

All joints are set to MAX_ACCEL = 30

STEPGEN_MAXVEL = 25.0
STEPGEN_MAX = 37.50

Rod suggested that now that my machine runs well post-retrofit, I should start learning and tweaking the acceleration on it. I haven't been cutting much the last 2 weeks because of electrical issues in the shop, but I look forward to learning that as I have struggled a bit with it. I'm a newb to all of this so there is plenty of room to grow.

I'm interested in seeing how yours comes out after a retrofit!
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04 Sep 2020 15:52 #180694 by snowgoer540

I have KL-5056 drivers...I did set them for the reduced amperage while holding. I'm not quite as concerned with the temps as I am with running the drivers at max output amps (when not really needed). Just thinking about longevity and reliability, nit-picking at my machine to improve it more.

I'm not sure I would be. I am running mine at the max amperage. It will help keep you from losing steps on accel and deccel (my thought anyways, happy to be corrected if I'm wrong).


I attached my .ini and .hal files if you wanna compare anything.

Thanks! I will check them out! Off the bat, I see that your stepgen_maxaccel is 25% of the max_acceleration (which it's supposed to be), just wanted to point out that if you get following errors, start here, I found that I needed to double the max_acceleration value to stop the joint following errors (I did this at the recommendation of PCW).


Rod suggested that now that my machine runs well post-retrofit, I should start learning and tweaking the acceleration on it. I haven't been cutting much the last 2 weeks because of electrical issues in the shop, but I look forward to learning that as I have struggled a bit with it. I'm a newb to all of this so there is plenty of room to grow.

Solid advice. I'm learning as well, and struggle seems to be part of the indoctrination process lol


I'm interested in seeing how yours comes out after a retrofit!

Me too! I'll keep everyone posted when I get off my lazy butt with the design..

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