I started off with the cables suspended which worked, then just had them loose which also worked. For full sheet cuts (horizontal at least) I think something to stop the cables bunching would be a good idea, but equally I wouldn’t leave a CNC unattended anyway so a bit of manual moving of cables is probably fine!
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Thanks! Yeah, I had pondered getting hold of a 4.0 board/encoders, then realised I could just wire something then realised I could do power over cable as well and it seems worth a try.
Definitely pleased with it after these tests - the ethernet cables are robust and easy to get hold of which makes working with them much easier than custom wiring!
I could also definitely refine my adaptor cabling to something simpler and dust proof, will add it to the list!
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I love what you’re doing. I have a question: does the control board need to be mounted on the carriage? If the board were placed outside, away from the dust, which cables would you need to run to the carriage – just the Z-axis cables and the power supply for the router?
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Z is stepper motors, with the stepper drivers on the control board. While you can drive steppers with longer wires than the Maslow has, not the lengths I’m using (generally 1-2m people think you can get away with, but issues if you go much longer).
It could be done - you could have stepper drivers located on the carriage and power / data cables from the control board, but that would mean a new PCB design and all that entails.
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