New builder hardware suggestions

Hi,
New to the forum and new to cnc. I am building a CNC plasma cutting table based on plans from Homemade Madness however, I would like to use LinuxCNC instead of Mach3 as in the plan. I have not bought any of the motors or controllers yet so was hoping to get some advice before purchasing anything. I plan to use an old laptop for the install of Linux and LinuxCNC so am also looking for suggestions for the best version of Linux to use. Thanks in advance for any suggestions, help.

Thanks for the reply, it's all a bit overwhelming the information on the site when you have no Linux experience at all.

For plasma and starting with LinuxCNC with stepper motors, I would get a Mesa 7i96s and a Mesa THCAD2 to read the torch voltage. Also get a Meanwell MDR-60-24 24 volt power supply for field power and a Meanwell MDR-10-5 5 volt power supply for logic. When you order your Mesa gear also get some of their DIN rail mounts and a couple of COMMX2 bus bars. That will set you up for a running start.

Wow that just got expensive. This is a portable table, the cut dimensions are adjustable at the design stage and I am probably going to make mine 1000x800. The designer suggested a Nema 23 stepper kit with DM542 drivers and a Mach 3 controller from Aliexpress at about $235. I was hoping to use something like this probably with just a different break out board. Is this not possible? This is for hobby use and I am in QLD Australia if that makes any difference. This is also my first build, hopefully learn something and able to modify or make a MK2 at some stage.

FWIW there's a balance between "cheap" and "not banging your head against the wall". Totally get not wanting to spend a ton on a first project before you even know if you'll stick with it, but going TOO cheap can be a self-fulfilling prophecy where the cheap parts make the build and end result miserable.

Where I 100% would NOT cut corners is the power supply for the steppers. Get a good one, ideally transformer-based (not DCDC/switch-mode). Steppers decelerating dump energy back into the PSU and can cause voltage spikes, especially with a DCDC supply with relatively small output caps (the transformer-based supplies already have large capacitors to keep the output relatively stable, so have fewer problems with this). If you do use a switch-mode supply, put a BIG capacitor on it, with a high voltage rating. I think I put a... 1000 uF/250V capacitor on mine after blowing up a driver board and a few "unkillable" GeckoDrive stepper drives. No issues after that.

Spending an extra $50 or something on a good PSU can save you hundreds in other killed electronics (not to mention time and sanity).

If absolutely nothing else, not getting the cheapest of the cheap-cheap no-name supplies is probably a good idea, just from a fire hazard perspective.

stoobydale wrote:

Wow that just got expensive. This is a portable table, the cut dimensions are adjustable at the design stage and I am probably going to make mine 1000x800. The designer suggested a Nema 23 stepper kit with DM542 drivers and a Mach 3 controller from Aliexpress at about $235. I was hoping to use something like this probably with just a different break out board. Is this not possible? This is for hobby use and I am in QLD Australia if that makes any difference. This is also my first build, hopefully learn something and able to modify or make a MK2 at some stage.

I'm also  in Queensland also (Brisbane). You can find my email address on my @MrRodW YouTube channel. You can use a parallel port breakout board.I bought 2 off Amazon for $20. I might have a THCAD which you can use with the encoder component to read torch voltage for THC. If you went with Mach3, you'd probably need to get a Proma THC or similar so it will get expensive quick too. The DM542's should be fine. Very hard to kill. Geckos are way overrated.