Stepper motors upgrade

Community Discussion 📄 General
1

Hi, I am trying to decide if upgrading my Longmill Mk2.5 to closed loop stepper motors is worth the cost. While doing my research, I came across the discussion below on this site (from 2024.)

Given that less than 2 years ago, one of the Sienci staff, Stephen, felt that moving to closed loop stepper motors would offer "diminishing return on spending money" - what has changed to now make this a viable proposition?

Hey Jim,

Chatting with the team, I don’t think we have any plans for closed loop motors on the LongMill in the near future - generally we’ll be limited in our travel speed due to the leadscrews whipping around so there’s some diminishing return on spending money on closed loop motors that can spin faster.

Cheers,
Stephen

2

Ian, I had a Longmill and when I did 3D carves I would get ridges in the cut. I purchased an Altmill with the closed stepper motor, and wow, the 3D carves are great. The closed stepper motor will correct itself if the motor misses a step. If you do a lot of 3D carves, I would say it’s well worth the money.