Karl Townsend wrote:

You need to spend some time with these "junk" CNC controls as you seem
to thing they are, then perhaps you'll understand that they are not at
all "junk".

Steppers are *not* the big drawback you seem to think, as long as they
have been sized properly and you use the machine within it's ratings.

Pete, I don't think that at all about EMC. I recommended it to Iggy.
Its just that I know my control inside out and I like it.

If you get to know one of the other control inside and out you'll
probably like it as well.

Now, I am
prejudiced against steppers. I tried them and got burned.

I don't know the details of your stepper follies, but I can pretty well
assure you that they were misapplied if you did indeed have issues with
them.

Servos are
cheaper and better.

Servos are not cheaper than steppers. If they were, nobody would be
using steppers for anything.

And i am plum spoilt with a ton of I/O.

And as I noted, both EMC2 and Mach3 will happily handle a "ton" of I/O.


I'm really just looking for iron that can go in an upstairs bedroom.
And I want it as rigid as my Matsuura bedmill VBG

Well, if you want that, then just reinforce the floor of that upstairs
bedroom with a few I-beams and support columns in the walls below, take
out the exterior wall of that upstairs bedroom and crane in some big
iron.