Quote Originally Posted by ken_rychlik View Post
It is not a plug and play kind of thing though. It would take someone with some electrical knowldedge and some research on their part as well.
VERY good point, and readers should understand this.

All theories aside, and not to minimize Mike's research, but it is very hard to beat the performance and value of a PRS Alpha drive system. Yes, it is not "cheap"...but what is "cheap" at the end of the day, on a tool that is used to make a living?

Forget that Alphas have positional feedback and can go into 'Alpha Mode' or self-correct. The tool will run all day long (and day & night) without missing a beat, if you aren't running a beat computer, and cut with 150 pounds of cutting force, reliably, up to 12 inches per second. It will rapid position at 30 inches per second as well, although the gearboxes are really only rated for around 22 IPS. It was carefully researched and engineered to run all day, every day - production duty.

300 pounds of cutting force???? 2X that of an Alpha? Who wants that? I've only put my tool into 'Alpha mode' exactly two times since 2006. Both times were induced by parts moving and wedging the machine on one side of the gantry, forcing the tool to adjust for this & eventually stop with a safety alarm. 300# of force on a slow moving metal mill is fine. On a fast moving router - no way, Jose. Think about safety. 300#s on ANY part of your anatomy ain't pretty.

If you are tinkering around, no doubt you can get impressive numbers with off the shelf parts...but what kind of warranty and support are you going to get?

-B