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Bart Dring

2,048 orders since Aug 14, 2017

60 Reviews

River Forest, IL, United States of America

Ships from United States of America.

Bart Dring

Custom Work Available

Hardware and Electronics for Motion Control and CNC.

External Stepper Motor Driver Adapter

External Stepper Motor Driver Adapter

Bart Dring

$2.00

4x Input CNC I/O module

4x Input CNC I/O module

Bart Dring

$12.00

5V Output Module

5V Output Module

Bart Dring

$12.00

0-10V Spindle CNC I/O Module

0-10V Spindle CNC I/O Module

Bart Dring

$12.00

Relay CNC I/O Module

Relay CNC I/O Module

Bart Dring

$14.00

Quad MOSFET CNC I/O module

Quad MOSFET CNC I/O module

Bart Dring

$16.00

FluidDial Connection Starter Kit

FluidDial Connection Starter Kit

Bart Dring

$20.00

TMC2209 Pen/Laser CNC Controller

TMC2209 Pen/Laser CNC Controller

Bart Dring

$45.00

Isolated RS485 CNC I/O Module

Isolated RS485 CNC I/O Module

Bart Dring

$24.00

6 Pack Universal CNC Controller

6 Pack Universal CNC Controller

Bart Dring

$48.00

6x CNC Controller for FluidNC (integrated ESP32)

6x CNC Controller for FluidNC (integrated ESP32)

Bart Dring

$64.00

RS485 CNC I/O Module

RS485 CNC I/O Module

Bart Dring

$14.99

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About

I have been doing DIY Open Source CNC for almost 20 years. I specialize in firmware and hardware for small scale CNC machines. My goal is to make the easiest to use CNC controllers.

I am always open to help with custom projects.

bdring Bart Dring's Channel

Shipping Policies

If you need an International shipping quote, please contact me via the "Contact Store" button on the product pages.

International customer should also look at my partner seller in China.

https://www.elecrow.com/6x-cnc-controller-for-fluidnc.html#customtab

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Reviews

Review Breakdown

5
42 4
14 3
0 2
1 1
3

Average Ratings

Product: (4.72)

Documentation: (4.52)

Shipping: (4.85)

Communication: (4.67)

Lucas | July 12, 2024

The best-in-class CNC controller on the market.

For 6 Pack Universal CNC Controller

I don't often leave true reviews but this is a product that easily deserves it.

I bought this product along with Dring's 0-10V spindle controller and two of the 4x input modules to convert my ancient Roland MDX-40 to a more modern firmware. For around $200 total (which includes the spindle hardware and five DRV8825 stepper drivers) I now have a fully capable CNC conversion that handles modern g-code with a wireless interface instead of requiring me to hack together outdated drivers and a machine language from the early 2000s. Originally I tried to use the most budget option for this build in the form of an Arduino CNC hat, but the extra $60 spent is easily worth it. If you're trying to decide between this and other low-cost boards, spend the extra money and go with this.

This product, along with his FluidNC firmware, is extremely well-documented and it took me only a few hours to fully understand the configuration process and get everything up and running on a machine that has never been converted using this hardware before. It interfaces flawlessly with the 500W spindle power supply speed controller and the motion system that came with the machine. The price point is also quite good - this product easily competes with other much more expensive options that I've used, with the added benefit that everything is open source, so I never have to worry about losing support or having to fork over hundreds of dollars for a software update.

Definitely will be continuing to use his products in the future for any other machines I may build.

Kevin | Jan. 29, 2024

This board is amazing

For 6x CNC Controller for FluidNC (integrated ESP32)

This is the second board I've bought here from Bart Dring.
The first was a 6-pack external driver board - very flexible due to its potential to add many different modules and great for experimentation (or use in a machine). This one (6x integrated version) is very, very comprehensive out of the box and will work fine as it comes, after a little tweaking of the configuration file. The production quality is great, and if it's as reliable as the other boards, it will be a winner. With a set of external driver boards (mine are 4 x TMC2160), it worked without problems. It comes with the latest FluidNC loaded, along with a generic configuration file. You will need to be prepared to individualize the configuration file to fit your particular build. There is a wealth of good readable information on the wikis as well as online support on the Discord if needed.
I also tested this with a Platformio-based build of GrblHAL, using a customized board map to match the pinouts and peripherals. It worked perfectly with that too.
There is onboard support for multiple spindle types and connections - including PWM, 0-10V and built-in ModBus. All work, but I still prefer 0-10V - and this is very linear across the range. Plenty of inputs and outputs, including a couple of MOSFET outputs for driving relays. Very little need for external peripherals.
The price is pretty good too, especially taking into account all of the built-in capabilities. To replicate these with the 6-Pack External + modules would cost a lot more. This is now in my production machine, relegating the 6-Pack to the testbed setup, where its flexibility is most useful.

Ian | Nov. 28, 2023

6 Pack External Driver CNC Controller is working well

For 6 Pack External Driver CNC Controller

I used fluidnc a while ago and was pleased with it so when I needed a controller for my cnc I got this. I use it on an old cnc knee mill from the late 80s that I finally got tired of fixing the control on. I'm using the old servos with Gecko servo drives which works well as long as all the terminal connections are done properly. Its all working well, especially for the price, a bit of working bugs out and figuring wifi out but that's to be expected. Next step now that everything works is to clean up the build which will help with reliability as most of the problems I have are with my wiring, the board itself is solid. I was surprised how much more work has gone into fluidnc since last I used it. Previously getting the yaml file figured out was a challenge at first but the online installer now is easy, super nice. I'm very happy with it, the value is hard to beat.

Lucas | Nov. 27, 2023

Upgraded from XPro V5

For 6 Pack External Driver CNC Controller

A great upgrade from the all-in-one controller I was using before. The ability to put 48v or more instead of 24v through the motors, the ability to have 4 motors controlling a 3-axis gantry machine plus a rotary axis if I want one, and just the sheer amount of customizability are the huge upsides I was sold on.

It was a bit intimidating since I don't have any background electrical or computer stuff but reading the wiki and browsing help threads on the Discord got me what I needed to switch my cnc over from the XPro V5.

Awesome product.

Brent | Oct. 21, 2023

Really cool product, and great support

For 6 Pack External Driver CNC Controller

I decided to switch to FluidNC from grbl, and it's a lot harder to homebrew that. Thankfully, this is purpose-built for FluidNC by the guy who wrote* it. Great software running on great hardware! I like external stepper drivers, so I went this route. As an added bonus, a couple of 5v output ports are built in--you usually have to buy those, and if you are trying to really automate your CNC work, you're going to need them.

It's hard to go wrong with this setup--everything is super-intuitive, and if there is a problem, the hardware is documented within an inch of its life on Github, and FluidNC has an entire, obsessively-complete wiki. And if that's not enough, there is support on Discord. It's not some rando farming responses for stars, or a series of "hey, I had this <exact problem you have>, but now it's fixed" followed by months of silence. It's the guy, whose name you see on this store, answering your questions, asking for info, and then more often than not telling you how to fix it.

On a Saturday, in minutes, in my experience. I almost felt bad about making him work on a weekend, but I figured I'd be lucky if somebody didn't just tell me to put an issue into Github and check my calendar.

In short, buy it and use and enjoy it. It's almost impossible to go wrong.

*I mean, I doubt he wrote it from scratch, but this guy's been leading the way in hobby CNC stuff for ages, so I'm going to pad his resume a bit.

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