Can I mix 0.9 and 1.8 degree steppers? How about a gear motor?

So I'm building my first reprap (a mendel90), I've ended up salvaging parts from all over, many from a failure of a kickstarter that I supported, and I'm trying to make things work. I have three 0.9 degree stepper motors already, but searching for 1-2 more I've noticed the 0.9 seem harder to find and more expensive, and based on what I read, when you get microstepping involved, you don't necessarily gain much using 0.9 degree steppers. So I'm wondering if I'm stuck using 0.9 steppers on everything, or if I could combine them with 1.8 degree steppers. I'm wondering not only if its "possible", but if its easy to do without adding extra headaches (because if its too big of a headache, I'd just buy all new 1.8 steppers, rather than deal with frustration).

Also I have a PG35L-048 "permanent magnet stepper with gearbox". Wondering if I can use this for the hotend, and expect good results, or if I'd be better off just buying another stepper motor, either 1.8 or 0.9.

Thanks.

Its pretty trivial, the steps per mm is seperate for all axes and the extruder. Or you could run the 0.9 degree steppers at twice the microstepping of the 1.8 degree. Just be careful to use the same type of stepper on both sides of the Z axis, since both of those are run from the same controller.

Your PG35L-048 is not really suited to reprap. Its a unipolar motor where the standard drivers are bipolar, so you'd need to find an appropriate driver. AFAIK, there aren't any with the pololu a4988 pinout, so you'd need to modify the electronics to suit. On top of that, its rated at 12V which means it'll perform poorly on a 12V supply.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/26/2014 04:07PM by Andrew Smith.

Thanks for the response. I will ditch the PG35L-048 and get another stepper instead. I've been having trouble finding just what sort of specs are ideal, so I'm wondering, will this be a good stepper for the extruder (or any other axis)?

[www.ebay.com]

Its only $16 shipped, available in the usa, and has 76 oz/in of torque (which I hear is a lot), and 750mm lead wires.

Anyone have input if that should be a good one, or if there is something else I should get instead (on a budget).

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/26/2014 06:13PM by scubaguy.