Hey guys, have a question, what do You think of that board ?
is it OK ?
It may be OK if you run Mach3. I am not sure why anyone would do such a thing though.
Why is that ? Is the mach3 is bad or what ?
I’m not planing any serious works. Just some small things for other DIY frojects 
@Ramunas_Sun Mach3 is the past now. In tech the past is rarely ever a good thing either. As the past slips further and further away it will become increasingly difficult for you to continue working with archaic software too. That’s a future I do not need a crystal ball to see. You’re planning on painting yourself into a corner. I guess that’s OK if that’s where you want to be? But the day may come when you want to be somewhere else. That’s when the self recrimination starts. Which is somewhere where no one ever wants to be. Why did I choose this? I could have done that. I’d be there now if only I did it differently. That’s certainly bad.
I totaly agree with You. Just I have no idea what could be good enought and not too expensive, lets say around 50$ or so
@Ramunas_Sun LinuxCNC is a port of the same NIST EMC code as Mach3 is, and it is free. LinuxCNC is still supported today too. LinuxCNC also runs on a true real time kernel. Which is something Mach3 never did. But there are no USB dongles that support LinuxCNC. If you go the LinuxCNC route you have to do it right. That is part of the project core philosophy. LinuxCNC does not compromise for the sake of convenience. Which is a view that not everyone gets along with.
Then there’s GRBL which may be the best fit for you. GRBL is more limited than Mach3 and LinuxCNC is, but you said you are not looking to do much. GRBL was designed with a USB interface in mind too. You can get the interface hardware to run GRBL for about $5 or so.
mach3 and now 4 are a staple in the home cnc community. Many many hobby’st have used them over the years with much success. Yes there are new grlb/smoothie/etc software and boards out there but I doubt you will find many serious cnc machines using them.
I had a arduino shield GRBL. But not even started work with it. Before I finished tuning in everything one end stop stoped working. Swich itself was OK. So I desided to get new shield board with new drivers. After new board big mess started up. Components one by one worked, but everything together refused to work. I was changind back and forth those two bords and drivers withoutanu luck. So desided to try something else not expensive. And all I can find is just some mach3 brakeout boards
missing/deleted image from Google+
4x nema17 motors and 400w spindle
@Ryan_Fritts serious CNC machines don’t run Mach either. So what’s your point? Big iron does run LinuxCNC though. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxxdq6y8z8M
Well. I’m not sure I would wana mess with linux. Its already sounds sceary
@Paul_Frederick what would be suggestion of controller board for linux cnc for small cnc router ? that thing of myne is 50x50 cm working area
Only 2 outputs? Where are the GND connectors?
I’m missing a power supply connector. Hopefully It nothing drawing from the USB
@Paul_Frederick I’m running fine with a PLCM B3 connected to a touchscreen PC with MACH3 via Ethernet and an RS485 controlled spindle VFD. Sad it is doesn’t have delivers for MACH4. Better Architecture.
@Ramunas_Sun I just use a break out board connected to a parallel port. My PC is my machine controller. That is enough for me. There are I/O boards available for more demanding needs. I do not think you need any of that though. But parallel ports are hard to find on PCs today. So that may be a problem. USB to parallel port adapters do not work either. You need an interrupt driven I/O device. Which is something that USB is not.
@Marcus_Wolschon Good luck with that setup in the future. Because nothing lasts forever. Mach3 is not going to run on newer hardware when that day comes either. So you’re going to be right back on square one then. With nothing!
@Paul_Frederick , sorry, I probably wrongly expressed myself 
I’m thinking about break out board. And whats about parallel port, I think about PCIe to LPT card for PC.
@Marcus_Wolschon did You talk about power on my cnc ?
That’s a pic of how it was approximately :
bigger power supply and red board for spindle
and smaller power supply for grbl shield with drivers.
missing/deleted image from Google+
There are plenty of usb boards available now for both mach 3 and 4. So support for Mach3/4 will be just fine in the future. Yes most hobby cnc’s do run mach 3/4, though I’m sure the lower end/true hobby guys are now pushing the grbl/smoothie/etc side of it. Linux cnc is fine for those who want to deal with Linux. I run Windows programs most of the time so I’m not personally gonna use it. Check out http://www.cnczone.com.
http://www.cnczone.com