Yesterday I performed some testing on my Fireball CNC V90. I started off with each axis pretty much centered, to reduce the risk I crash the machine into it’s hard limits (the physical limits of each axis).

Using the full stepping inches configuration I tried:

G00 X1

to move the X axis (the longest axis) one inch. The motor accelerated and then stalled. This results in a nasty whirring/vibrating sound and no movement. A bit like crunching a gear in a manual transmission car. I found the same for the other two axis.

Next I tried moving the axis at slower speeds by specifying the inches per minute (IPM):

G01 F30 X1
G01 F50 X0
G01 F60 X1

etc. I found that I could achieve the following speeds before the motors stalled:

  • X: 148 IPM
  • Y: 80 IPM
  • Z: 33 IPM

Fireball CNC confirmed that Y will operate slower due to the different forces on the rails.

The next step is to try 1/4 stepping. This will result in a lower speed, but will increase the torque, so it should be possible to get a little bit closer to the theoretical maximum speed.

I also measured the following amount of travel for each axis:

  • X: 17.85 inches
  • Y: 11.7 inches
  • Z: 2.75 inches

Since I received my machine Fireball CNC has increased the Z axis travel slightly.