Centroid Community CNC Support Forum

Hey there everyone, I'm Shane, I bought a 1300x1300 CNC router direct from the manufacturer in China at a very reasonable price point. (beat the tariffs)

I Requested the machine have several upgrades from the standard model, which include:

- helical rack and pinion drives instead of ball screws.
- 3.5KW liquid cooled spindle.
- Vacuum table / pump. (blower style)
- Oiler system for all of the guides and transmission.
- Mach3 controller. (Chinese unfortunately)

I have had the machine setup mechanically for 4 months now...

ME:

I am a cabinet and furniture maker by trade, but I have been tinkering since i was a kid. taking everything apart to figure out how it works. I'm proficient at diagnosing mechanical issues, pneumatic/ hydraulic systems, metal work, painting and finishing, design, and almost every other aspect of fabricating things. What I am not very proficient at is computers. Software, digital circuitry(although decent with analog low voltage control/ automation systems. I have owned 3 different hobby CNC machines over the years that just lacked rigidity

THE ISSUES:

After a glee filled unpacking, assembling, and instrumentation session it was time to power it up and try my hand at Mach3, what a nightmare!
So on top of never using this seemingly extraordinarily over-complicated control software, The machine would not respond to any commands. I beat my head against the wall trying to trouble shoot the issue, until i finally contacted the manufacturer, afterwards they Used an app to allow the engineer to use my computer from china to solve the problem. I sat and watched the curser on my screen go back and forth for nearly 2 hours. Adjusting different setting in mach3, uninstalled and reinstalled the software 3 or 4 times. Finally he gets the machine to run! But for some reason the machine is not running the test operations successfully. either the spindly wont start while running the program, or the bit plunges all the way into the table before rapid to a position. Just a mess! So i then ordered an Openbuilds Black Box to try and bypass the mach3 situation. I have previously owned an Openbuilds machine and really liked the control software, but the board is only rated for 3A motors, and when I asked the kind folks over at Openbuilds they told me i could try but it would void the warrantee(naturally). So i then started researching other options. Thats where i landed with ACORN! So I have been trying to go by the book with everything. i Bought a small PC that was up to spec. I bought a touchscreen monitor to use, which i will be returning for a regular monitor and the MPG eventually. ANYWAY!

I have searched all over for the scematics to connect the acorn to my Drivers, but no luck. So I'm here asking for help, Ive tried wiring them up with the pulse - and+ to the step ports. Swapped them, im getting nothing.I did the CNCPC setup and tuner. I did the bench test first and confirmed the computer was communicating with the board. But theres no response from the machine from the software.

Ive put all the photos so far into a drive folder that can be accessed by this link.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... drive_link
And the Report file ive attached.

I know the components are dusty, and im not very tidy with wire management currently, i was just trying to get things temporarily wired to make sure everything works before cleaning up.

As far as the existing components, Ive added Photos of everything. I gotta get back in the shop as of right now, but and info is Appreciated!

Thanks so much!
Shane Doyle

Hi Shane, those drives are 5v drives and wire to the DB25 port on the Acorn. Follow this schematic and you’ll need a DB25 breakout board that can be purchased on Amazon for about $10:

https://www.centroidcnc.com/dealersuppo ... 976.r4.pdf

For what it’s worth, ball screws are WAY better than any helical rack and pinion drive. That was a down grade in my opinion.

Thanks for the info on the breakout board!
As far as the drive system opinion, I appreciate it, many of my friends and Colleagues have higher end machines (laguna, shopsaber, legacy, etc). They all use helical rack and pinion for the lengthy axis, axies? Axiss? Anyway, thats what I went with because thats what ive seen work!

For what its worth, my z axis is a ball screw!

Asdoyle1221 wrote: ↑Sun Jun 08, 2025 5:44 am Thanks for the info on the breakout board!
As far as the drive system opinion, I appreciate it, many of my friends and Colleagues have higher end machines (laguna, shopsaber, legacy, etc). They all use helical rack and pinion for the lengthy axis, axies? Axiss? Anyway, thats what I went with because thats what ive seen work!

For what its worth, my z axis is a ball screw!

Rule of thumb, steppers wire to the DB25 with the breakout board and servos wire to the headers. Your conversion should be simple and straight forward as you are just moving wires from the old controller to Acorn. Program your inputs and outputs and then configure your stepper drives and spindle and you’ll be up and running in a few hours.

I had to laugh when you said “higher end machines” and listed Laguna. That’s funny. Laguna is a Chinese made machine also just rebranded with some Laguna stickers. Your machine is just as good or better with some of your upgrades.

Helical rack is far better than a straight rack for sure so good choice there. Most router machines use rack and pinion on the longer axis because it’s FAR lass expensive than a ball screws. They would have been awesome on your 4x4 table. The accuracy is second to none. The really nice machines use ball screws and they rotate the ball nut and not the screw.

Good luck on the conversion, the Acorn is the right choice for your router, you’ll love it.

IMHO rack and pinion ist better on large travels if you want some decent speed. Ball screws are limited to the critical rpm, the longer the slower.

But with a rotating nut, ball screws are not limited, because they are not rotating...

Uwe

Depends on the diameter, pitch and gear reduction. I have 8’ ball screws traveling 1000 IPM rapids with no whip.

I am using the HiWin Doku for my calculations

https://www.hiwin.de/medias/sys_master/ ... hment=true

Uwe

I am wrapping up a laguna 4x8. It is built very sturdy and movements are smooth with the same racks. It may have been built by the same plant that built yours. I think yours will turn out good with Acorn running it for you. It seems to have a LOT of vacuum valves for a 4x4 machine. Take your time. Keep the signal wires and power wires separated as much as you can.

Yes, it certainly was a better choice to go with a helical rack than a straight rack. Building it to your specs and buying direct was a very smart choice.

The Weeke router I just retrofit has a helical rack on the long Y axis. There’s probably 15 feet of travel on this 5x12 table. Smooth and fast.

Ken Rychlik wrote: ↑Sun Jun 08, 2025 3:28 pm It may have been built by the same plant that built yours.

I believe it was, when I asked them about an ATC he said the could not sell that machine in the USA with an ATC due to an existing contract with laguna.