Quote
Ohmarinus
I'm using the G3D drivers with a 2.5A Nema17. I have the same motors on my other printer too, but they use the Pololu stepsticks imitation version without a 2nd trimpot for the oscillation.
I notice a huge difference in how the motors behave, but on both printers I've never had any torque problems. The advantage for me was that the motors don't overheat because they can easily take the current. The limiting factor in this case would be the stepper drivers.
Just a little question, why would you want to upgrade your stepper motors? And keep in mind that when you use different Nema types, the size will be different, so this means that the spacing of the bolt-holes is also different :)
Yeah I'm starting to get a good idea of the kind of things I'm looking for as far as motors and electronics go. The RUMBA board does seem to be a logical progression for me to go with from the RAMPS board. And I can stick to the ratings that bobc suggested.
As for the why-upgrade-the-motors question, it's part of a number of upgrades I'm doing. The motors I have are fine, albeit noisy and the Z axis is a mess because of a mediocre coupler and rail bearing. So when it comes to the new motors I'm looking at, there's a number of different reasons for the upgrades:
X axis: General improvement
Y axis: smaller + lighter but still with enough power. It's mounted on the gantry, and that's being re-designed for a new Z axis rail/linear motor, so a lighter motor is better.
Z axis: Linear motor to work with new Z linear rail bearing and redesigned gantry.
Extruder(s): Looking at upgrading/designing a new extruder, many of the upgrades done on the felix are to go to an E3D based bowden design. BUT, bowden ones still have issues with flexible fillament. The idea is to design a light, dual-direct drive extruder, hence the light motors. Thing is, and this is a really interesting one, I wouldn't imagine much torque is needed for an extruder, so I wonder would I get away with a NEMA 8, although sticking with a NEMA 11 is probably just a safer option.