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3-axis CNC milling device

I've build this 3-axis CNC milling device for milling small mechanic parts. Also, it's capable of
engraving and drilling PCB boards. The milling device is a stepper motor controlled x-y table,
and a motorized (z-axis) stand for a 'Dremel' tool.

RC Servo controller
CNC
Schematics
Pictures
Links to other sites

Figure 1: CNC milling machine.

The effective work range is 160*160*65 mm and the mechanical resolution is better than 0.1
mm (stepsize = .02mm).
Mechanics
The device is build of Aluminum strips and profiles. The electronics and power supply are
located in the lower part, and the actual x-y table is constructed directly above it. Due to the
weight of the power supply the table is quite stable. I'm using bearing reels for guiding the
movement in x and y direction. The movement is driven by a screw thread that is kept in place
by radial and axial bearings (see figure 2). The Dremel spindle is attached to a part of a Dremel
stand. This part is mounted on an aluminum stand, and the lever of the Dremel stand is replaced
by a belt-wheel that is driven by a stepper motor (z-axis) (see figure 3). Look at this page for
more pictures

Figure 2: The x-y table

Figure 3: The modified Dremel stand with z-axis driver.

Electronics
The machine is controlled by a PC via the parallel port. The electronic part of the device
consists of essentially most of the programmer interface described elsewhere, that is driving the
output stages of the stepper motor drivers. Each uni-polar stepper motor driver is build of a
current controlled PWM power source and some power switches to switch the coil currents.
For a change, I did not use dedicated chips to realize the drivers. See the schematics.
Software
The software is running on Windows XP and enables me to directly control the milling machine,
and to execute a Gerber 274 file. Since the same electronic interface as the programmer was
used, I could happily copy the low level driving code and drivers. The maximum stepping
speed seems to be limited to about 500 steps/second. Since I did not implement acceleration,
the stepping speed is limited to 250 steps/second.