Which Control Board to Buy!? Too many choices!

[dvseliteus]

I am working on a 3D Printer build and I really like the reprap format printers.
I am looking for the best controller board that is easy to use and will work with the following;

• Dual Extruder
• Auto Bed Leveling
• 5 stepper motors

I am leaning towards an Azteeg X3: http://www.panucatt.com/Azteeg_X3_Pro_p/ax3pro.htm (I am worried this will be hard to setup as I have no code experience)
I am wondering if there is a better bang for my buck solution out there as I will need to also buy 7 stepper drivers.
What do you all think?

[printbus]

Note that there are boards that have built-in stepper motor drivers. RAMBO and Smoothieboard are examples. Of course, that can be a problem if you end up damaging a driver, but that's a fairly rare problem.

You might clarify why you need 7 stepper drivers for 5 motors.

[dvseliteus]

Hi Printbus,
Thanks for the quick reply.
I am planning on having 2 Z-Axis Motors, 2 Y-Axis Motors, 1 X-Axis Motor and 2 Extruder Motors.
This will be for a 16"x16" Build Platform
Let me know what you think

[printbus]

Ah, OK. You plan to have 7 motors, not 5 as stated in the original post. Neither RAMBO or Smoothieboard will support that.

What kind of reprap format are you referring to? Reprap i3 styles will often use 2 Z-motors and just parallel them onto the same driver, but IDK if that'd be a good idea for the heavier x-carriage like there'd be on a 16 inch platform. I'd likely agree that moving a 16-inch print bed in the y-axis is asking a lot for a single motor.

Sounds like this would be your first printer. I'm curious on what you plan to print. Anything using the full 16 inch platform could take days to print.

I'm not sure I can offer much help. Good luck!

[dvseliteus]

I have a Prusa i3 that i assembled. disregard the reprap format statement.
I am planning on only moving the bed in z-axis.
Would be something similar to this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7puaLh_RglY
I need this large printer for a product we are developing for my company.
But I'm not sure what would be the best contoller board for something like this?

[zx81]

Ah, OK. You plan to have 7 motors, not 5 as stated in the original post. Neither RAMBO or Smoothieboard will support that.

Smoothieboard x5 will support that. you can run the 2x X-axis and the 2x Y-axis from a single stepper driver eg 2x nema17 motors with a maximum current draw of 1 amp each and set the stepper current to 2amps in the control config.