The stepper motors that I'd originally selected from Sparkfun were SM-42BYG011. These had 23NM of torque but it was quite clear that they weren't up to job, especially on the Z-Axis. They couldn't reliably turn the Z-axis and kept stalling out. The other problem was they kept getting very hot (too hot to touch!), in fact the extruder stepper got so hot that it deformed the plastic mounting plate during medium prints.
As a result I had to change all the stepper motors out. This time round I beefed them up to 42BYGHW811 from Phidgets. No more Z-axis stalls and although the motors do get warm during a long print, they don't get burning hot. The only down side is that the audible chopping frequency is far more noticeable, probably due to the larger coils in the motors.
Next time I'll remember, more power is better!
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