You could do a 4th axis on the Acorn, but not a 5th. I’m really liking the Acorn, it’s definitely more of a professional level controller than my DDCS (Chinese controller) was, and has a ton more documentation and support. Also love the customizable interface. I originally built it with the 8" monitor, but upgraded to a 10" I got from someone here.
@alldaysammyj was a big help in answering questions I had before jumping into the Acorn.
Pic with the original 8" monitor
You are correct, it should be the 5th axis. To have auto squaring I would have to commit to using 2 of the 4 axis to control the Y axis which would make a rotary axis somewhat cumbersome to switch back and forth… I have an additional user of the Onefinity who is not technical at all so “easy” is also a requirement or I might get yelled at 
Forgive my jumping in off topic. Could you remind me @Machinist how you machined the holes in your table plate. Did you spot the holes in place with the CNC? Drill and tap separately? Ask because I am rebuilding my CNC setup and am installing my cast aluminum plate. When my VFD finally arrives, I would have the option to mill them, but I have next to no CNC experience, and the thought of making a big mistake looms large in my mind. Now on topic … happy you are enjoying your new controller!
I suspected that’s why the perceived limitation.
@TMToronto, No worries Tom, I already derailed this train. 
My plate was done on a large-scale industrial CNC router by a vendor I work with where I work. They laser cut the plate & put in all the holes on their CNC. I reamed out 4 of the holes to 6.0mm to use for squaring the machine. I could have got the plate with thru holes dirt-cheap at work, but I still would have had to tap all the holes. Been there, done that on my X-Carve. Didn’t want to do it again.
Now to put the train back on the tracks
I did just look at some closed-loop stepper options, and found pricing to be much more reasonable than the $1600 for ClearPath servos. Still maybe sometime in the future, we’ll see…
I stumbled upon some closed loop steppers with built in drivers (most seem to be leadshine based) with a very attractive price point but the documentation and setup software for these seem to be lacking overall and downright dreadful especially when compared to the ClearPath docs and software. I don’t mind a challenge but I don’t like unsolvable puzzles.
Thank you for the info - looks like I will need to get up the nerve to do it in situ. I will practice on a layer of wood first.
Masso came out with closed loop steppers recently - 2 and 3 Nm versions…
https://docs.masso.com.au/wiring-and-setup/setup-and-calibration/axis-servo-stepper-examples/masso-stepper
… for your interest. I also had looked at ClearPath - would make a very clean instal - plug and play - but you pay for that I suppose. Good tuning software as well from what I have seen/read online.
I’m done with Chinese controllers and other automation components with little to no documentation. I have a lot of $$ into my machine, and don’t want to “upgrade” with undocumented components. The Chinese have some worthwhile components, but they shoot themselves in the foot with lousy or non-existent documentation or poorly working software. Their stuff is a good match for their 3018 or whatever they are CNC routers they flood the market with.
@TMToronto Nice, looks like a beautiful match for the Masso controller. Yes, the ClearPath looks insanely simple to hook up & tune with their software, but you most definitely do pay for that.
A buddy of mine recently bought a very early CNC router (barely used) that has servo motors. He’s somewhat a collector of CNC machines he finds good deals on. Anyway, that CNC router he got is insanely quiet and smooth, thanks in part to the servo motors.
I have a HY spindle and VFD that took a few days of work to get sorted out and that was just making something spin in one direction 
The reliability of all the hardware is also a concern, 2 weeks of downtime would be costly to me, more than the cost of better components. The only benefit is they’re readily available under one name or another and should be quick to source should one fail.
I have been rocking and rolling with 2.2KW water cooled spindle for years. Never had a Z motor fail with the extra weight. Now I have one on my 1F and is doesn’t appear to be struggling one bit. I typically don’t use high feed rates on my Z motors but when I switch to the bigger spindle I bumped it way up to see how the 1F motor would handle it and it never missed a beat. I turned the speed back down for my own sanity, not to make it easier on the motor which clearly didn’t have any problems.
