/diy/ - Do It Yourself

I'm building a machine that includes an xy axis moving plate powered by 2 stepper motors. I want to use only one output from my microcontroller capable of pwm.

What do I need? is there a special type of relay in which one output can be 24vdc and determine which of the two steppers receive the pwm? I only need one stepper at a time.

This also leads to another question, why are xy linear guides so damn expensive, are there any cheap options out there? the cheapest i've come across are cnc plates which is overkill (max weight i require is like 1.5 pounds) and like $1200.