You need some fairly specific motors for a printer. They run $10 to $20 brand new for ones that work with the controllers we normally use. Matching a "free motor" up to a $30 controller does not save you anything.
What you *must* know:
1) The mounting face size (say NEMA-17) there are about a dozen common alternatives
2) The torque output. We use fairly high torque motors
3) The body length (not critical for all locations, but very critical for some)
4) The shaft diameter (many variations ...)
5) The current rating for the windings (enormous variation here)
6) The winding type (4 wire bipolar is the target)
7) The number of steps per revolution (200 is normal)
8) Number of shafts - we use single shaft motors.
That's not to say you *can't* get a printer going from scrap motors, been there done that on other stuff. The issue is that the firmware / cpu / drivers / toolchain / mechanicals tie you into a pretty specific set of parts. The standard "stuff" is so cheap that going off list can get crazy fast.
What you *must* know:
1) The mounting face size (say NEMA-17) there are about a dozen common alternatives
2) The torque output. We use fairly high torque motors
3) The body length (not critical for all locations, but very critical for some)
4) The shaft diameter (many variations ...)
5) The current rating for the windings (enormous variation here)
6) The winding type (4 wire bipolar is the target)
7) The number of steps per revolution (200 is normal)
8) Number of shafts - we use single shaft motors.
That's not to say you *can't* get a printer going from scrap motors, been there done that on other stuff. The issue is that the firmware / cpu / drivers / toolchain / mechanicals tie you into a pretty specific set of parts. The standard "stuff" is so cheap that going off list can get crazy fast.