Cheapest printer controller board

[tom10122]

My computer controlling my 4-axis board went on me about a month ago and I am going through 3d printing withdrawl. I need something to control my printer on the cheap without a parrellel port. I would prefer a sd card to load the gcode but if its cheaper, would be fine with controlling via USB. SOme links would be great. I have been looking at ramps but just dont know what I need. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0725613082 This looks good to me, just get some stepper sticks and Im good to go right? They also have assembled ones for $80. Do I NEED endstops or an lcd?

[Flateric]

I've been running RAMPS v1.4 for some time now without issues of anykind. Firmware, identical, other than simply selecting board type 33 rather than 301.

Other minor tweaks here and there but nothing that isn't really obvious.

My only complaint about Ramps compared to rambo would be the polo's (stepper drivers) overheat and reset far far more easily and because of this it's really a requirement to run a cooling fan on the board.

I have heard that alternate drivers to replace the polo's can be had in a direct swap replacement form. They are supposed to run much cooler and are much more forgiving. I just am not really clear on specifically which drivers these may be. Anyone here know?

[Eaglezsoar]

A black edition driver board is available that has higher current output. A quote from the website:
Our Black Edition A4988 stepper motor driver carrier is a higher-performance drop-in replacement for the original A4988 stepper motor driver carrier. It features a four-layer PCB for better thermal performance, allowing the A4988 microstepping bipolar stepper motor driver to deliver approximately 20% more current than our two-layer version. Like our original carrier, the Black Edition offers adjustable current limiting, overcurrent protection, and five different microstep resolutions. It operates from 8 – 35 V and can deliver up to 2 A per coil with sufficient additional cooling.

The cost is about $12 each at the Pololu website.

[Fiero2M6]

Have you thought about still using the 4-axis tb6560 board? I think you could use a computer and an Arduino Mega (~25 for a knockoff on Amazon) with Sprinter firmware to control it. Do a search on the tb6560 on the reprap forums.

I'm in the same boat you are. I'm tired of my dinosaur parallel port computer, and I don't want to spend very much money. Anyone else have suggestions?

[tom10122]

How would I go about using a arduino to control it? I did see a while back that someone used the tb6560 chip with arduino but it didnt use sprinter and was controlled via PWM

[tom10122]

Also , what about this?http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-version-Rep ... 4172eebbe4

[Fiero2M6]

How would I go about using a arduino to control it? I did see a while back that someone used the tb6560 chip with arduino but it didnt use sprinter and was controlled via PWM

Sprinter may be the wrong firmware. Here's a guy using Marlin and arduino: http://forums.reprap.org/read.php?146,167192,202915

It looks doable with a little firmware modification. I have yet to find a step by step guide though.

[Lisha]

You can use a RepRap firmware to control a milling CNC, too. Just ignore the extruder part and handle a spindle like a fan.That said, RAMPS and its almost-clones are about the only RepRap electronics designed as a shield. Many, many "all-in-one" ones exist.

[tom10122]

Just Thought I'd let you guys know I managed to pick up a RAMPS Board with 4 pololus for $73 USA too , not chinese

[Eaglezsoar]

Just Thought I'd let you guys know I managed to pick up a RAMPS Board with 4 pololus for $73 USA too , not chinese

Hey Tom, do you have a link to that bargain? Thanks!

[tom10122]

I messaged him and asked if he would take $70, 3 was for shipping http://www.ebay.com/itm/RAMPS-1-4-REPRA ... 20d5bab6a2