Low cost solution: Alternatives to TB6560 ?

Previously I have used TinyG and Smoothieboard - but for my new C-Beam Machine I want to go LinuxCNC

I have PC with LPT port that from what I can tell will run LinuxCNC.

My budget is around 100-200$ for the board and the drivers. I have looked into:
TB6560 w/ LCD
CNC-Plus 3-axis, SMS-303

This is a hobby build with only 3 axis and cheap NEMA23 with 2.5A rating.

What is the recommended board to start with? I want something affordable and that works with LinuxCNC without too much trouble.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

Hi

My budget is around 100-200$ for the board and the drivers. I have looked into:
www.aliexpress.com/item/CNC-Router-Profe...-0dd43282bc9a]TB6560 w/ LCD

What you have looked at is expensive tat.
What were you going to do with the LCD screen and button pad?

If you are going to buy a TB6560 based driver, then get a cheap one.

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-4-Axis-CNC-Router...2:g:dTQAAOSwyQtVyvOS

Or even 4 separate ones at throw away prices
www.ebay.com/itm/CNC-Router-Single-1-Axi...-board-/251982024768

Just add a cheap BOB and a DB25 cable
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5-Axis-CNC-Breakout-B...5:g:D6UAAOSw~bFWQbkn
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/6Ft-DB25-Male-to-Fema...7:g:8ncAAOxyF81SCeGM

and you are away

The TB6560 bit is the Toshiba chip used, they are all about as good or bad as each other, just make sure they are cooled and NEVER exceed the voltage or current specs, they will blow up.

regards

andypugh wrote:

The TB6600 is supposedly a lot more robust than the TB6560.
I would suggest separate drives rather than an all-in-one board.
...

Okay, thank you! being from "all-in-one" board experience like smoothieboard / tinyg its a bit new - but for sure makes more sense!

ArcEye wrote:

...

Thank you for feedback and links - that looks like a great place to start

Really looking forward to LinuxCNC - will get back as soon as i have my machine up & running!

Just a few words about the SMS-303 board from CNC-Plus:
I purchased that board a couple of weeks ago and had it delivered within 10 days at my door. At first glance, it looks great, well built, with optocouplers for driving 24V external switches, plug-in terminal strips, a huge heat dissipator with a fan etc.

Things became a little more complicated at configuration stage... provided (downloaded) documentation is really poor, and unless black-magic is your favorite practice, jumpers settings can barely be done as per provided information (according to the manufacturer, you may configure JP1 - a set of 3 pins in a single line configuration - to achieve a setting out of 4 possible ways. Great.) Several other jumpers and pots are undocumented etc.

But the reason why that board rapidly reached the recycle bin, is that it finally never worked at all. After several hours spent to check out the clock/dir signal etc., I found out that 2 on-board fuses were blown (not to say that these fuses are totally undocumented). Replaced them with 1.6A flink fuses as per original, I discovered that the fuses blows out as soon as the module is powered on, even with no external connection. Also found out (and corrected) soldering leaks at one of the board, but still no progress.

Sent several e-mails to the manufacturer, did never get any single reply. Nevertheless, I admit that I wrote my message in english, neglecting the fact that the manufacturer's 'Technology' contact address clearly states that "(Language: German / Polish)... So sorry, I have no time to learn Polish so choosing an alternative product (and supplier) was my final choice.

Not worse the 160 EUR... but looking at it the positive way, I'm glad I had this experience, let's go back to serious manufacturers