This doesn't actually control the stepper motor, the idea is to use this in a control pendant for a CNC I'm building.
Input to the controllerboard (LEDs) requires either a clockpulse or a clockpulse and a direction. I want to do this with just two pushbuttons, forwards and backwards. Clock is a 555 timer.
One button simply gives clockpulse to one pin.
The other button gives clockpulse to one pin and sets the direction high.