It has screw-down terminals, and supports up to ⅛ microstepping. But you can replace one with expert soldering if you burn one of them since there is enough room to access the pins. Nevertheless, it is best to draw less than 2A from these drivers without proper cooling.ĭRV8818 comes with soldered drivers. DRV8818 is a little more robust than DRV8825. So, if you have built your G2Core controller, this is the CNC shield for you. We have explained how to turn an Arduino Due into a G2Core controller. It is compatible with GRBL, and Synthetos claims that the new shields are also compatible with Arduino Due. It comes from the same team that has developed TinyG and G2Core controllers, and Inventables’ X-Carve uses this CNC shield. It has six limit switches and supports E-stop.įor about $50, this CNC shield is more expensive than most of the shields on this list. But I suspect its PWM pin can’t run the spindle’s entire speed range (although it is hard to judge based on their disclosed information). It can switch on a 250W 24V spindle or a 500W 48v spindle. So, you get XYZ or XYY from this shield.ĪnnoyTools also has spindle support. Use 24v for CNCs, and 12v for 3D printers and lasers.ĪnnoyTools supports three axes, but it also backs up a dual-axis.

You can power this shield with 12v to 24v (although its diagram says 7-36V). Without a fan, I recommend you stay below 1.5 A per phase.Īlthough the A4988 can deliver up to 2 A/phase, you’ll burn through it in no time if you demand 2A from the stepper driver without proper heat dissipation. It comes with 3 A4988 drivers, but you can take them out and insert a DRV8825 with similar pin arrangements. There is no info on whether the spindle PWM pin can drive up to high speeds.ĪnnoyTools 4 is a CNC shield that also supports GRBL 1.1.

It can drive your spindle up to 20000RPM with its PWM pin (although you should still check your spindle’s specs), and it supports 3 axes with six limit switches and an E-stop button. Its electronics for directly switching the spindle (spindle enable) are weak (only 24v at 10A), but its PWM is better. It only works on 24v, but this is because it has the necessary electronics to drive a spindle or laser.

It has stepper motor drivers soldered on it, but for good reason: it has a fan turning on the stepper motor drivers. This allows you to draw more power from the stepper motor drivers. (If you have earlier versions of GRBL, we have explained how to make a GRBL controller or upgrade it in another article.) If you burn a stepper motor driver, you’ll need to replace the whole CNC shield.ĬNCTOPBAOS 4V is a good CNC shield because it has an in-built fan.

Grbl arduino nano pinout