Hello, I'm new to the community, I picked up a lightly used LEAD 1515 a month or so ago, and have it in pieces in my workshop while I've been building a table for it to sit on. Since the machine will be taking up such a large amount of floor space, I wanted to get lots of storage built into the table. The table is built of 3/4" birch ply, with the cabinet and drawer frames making up a support grid for the top. The whole thing is on casters and so far it is deadly square, level and flat - not to mention incredibly rigid. I'm planning out some wiring before I put the top on, and will probably hard oil wax the lower portion before that as well since it will be easier (on my knees and back) with full access to the innards. I'm getting really close to being able to assemble my machine and the anticipation is killing me. I think I've watched the build videos half a dozen or so times while I've been waiting. A few questions have come up as I've been watching, and I've done a fair bit of trying to search out answers in the forum, but haven't been able to find any clear answers (not having spent much time in these forums, I am unfamiliar with the layout, so I may have just been looking in the wrong area / category - forgive me if the answers are obvious, and trust me when I say that I HAVE tried finding the answers before just blasting them out in my first post). I'm really hoping the community can point me in the right direction(s). 1. What's the preferred method for mounting the frame to the table top? Are folks using any kind of vibration damping or just additional angle brackets screwed down to the table top? 2. I've read references to flipping the intermediate 20x40 V-Slot rails 90° and top-mounting spoil boards, but haven't been able to find images or good descriptions of what this looks like and what the trade-offs are. 3. There are a lot of threads reassuring people (like me) who are concerned with mounting the blackbox and power supply out in the elements, and not in an enclosure. Has anyone put these in an enclosure, and if so, how did you handle switch access / remote power-up / power-down. Can the blackbox switch be left in the "on" position, and power cycled by switching supply power? Or should I really just not worry about dust ingress and mount these where they're easy to access. 4. Other than obvious issues are there any things I should be looking for while assembling the machine since it is a used machine? Everything appears to be in very good shape, the rails and wheels don't have any visible signs of wear and all of the bearings are very smooth running. I've connected all of the steppers to the controller and jogged them and all is good. 5. If I don't know where the current adjustments are set, is there a way to baseline them, or just watch for fault indicators or stalling and adjust accordingly? I appreciate any suggestions or links to material that can help me find answers. I can't wait to get past the 'prep' stage and move on to building and using the router. Thanks in advance.
I can answer a couple of these from my perspective. I built a very heavy Torsion Box style of table top to mount on my base cabinet. It is made from 1/2 inch and 3/4 inch particle board. I wanted the mass and dimensional stability of the particle board to dampen vibration and to keep the whole cabinet from shaking apart during trochoidal milling and 3D carving. Both do a lot of short quick moves that shake the machine. I have not done this because I want to be able to cut things longer than my machine by using a technique called pin indexing. Therefore I need the whole surface to be flat all the way through the Y axis. The advantage of laying them flat is you can 3/4 of an inch of Z clearance so you can cut thicker things. This would be handy if you do a lot of 3D carving of larger items like jewelry/keepsake boxes. One thing to add is that you could do this, then if ever in the need to do the pin indexing to cut longer than your machine items, just screw an extra layer of 3/4" particle board to your spoil board. Mine is in an enclosure, the power switch is always on, and the power cable goes to a "machine main power" switch that plugs into the "always on" plug of my IOT Switching Relay Power Strip. The router plugs into the plug controlled by the Black box. I have no switches on my enclosure at all because the switch that turns everything on is also my "E-Stop." Photos: Old electrical panel box enclosure painted black with a fan hole cut out and LEDs...just because I can and they let me know it is on. Also, ignore the fact that my BlackBox is white. Many of us have white ones because of a game you could play back in version 1 old timey days. Power/Estop button Sounds like you are all set. I believe factory default is in the middle. I left mine there and have never had any issues. I would not worry about them unless you have issues. If so here is a link. docs:blackbox-4x:currentadjustment [OpenBuilds Documentation]
Thanks very much Craig, Is your CNC anchored to the torsion box top with angle attached to the V-slot? Your enclosure / paddle switch arrangement is essentially what I was hoping I could do, but wanted to make sure that turning everything off and on in this manner wasn't going to cause any issues. Perfect. The section of the Blackbox docs you linked says that the defaults is a good place to start, but doesn't give any info on where those are. Since this is a previously owned setup, I'd like to take it back to defaults if it isn't still there. I'll check where they're currently set relative to the middle and go from there. Thanks again.
I fastened my CNC to the torsion box using numerous Cast Corner Bracket s. Using a bench disk sander I sanded off the little bumps that fit in the extrusion slots then attached them to the extrusion using tnuts and 8mm M5 screws. I used wood screws to attach them to the torsion box. Sadly I have no pictures and they are all hidden away under the spoil board which is also attached to the extrusion with M5 hardware and drop in tnuts. My push button is hard wired to the control box. However, this is a slightly more expensive, but easier solution Amazon.com or from Rockler https://www.rockler.com/safety-power-tool-switch
Mechanical assembly has begun! The table top is still unfinished, I decided that before I made any irrevocable decisions about wiring and electronics mounting (drilled holes in the table and cabinets) I wanted to have the machine assembled so I could determine the best routings and locations. The build videos are fantastic, well done Openbuilds team. Getting the gantry plate sandwiches tightened and square was a bit challenging, they wanted to parallelogram slightly as I tightened, but I had some heavy steel angle I was able to use to secure them while tightening. I stayed up WAY too late last night and got this far: Only a couple small parts had to go together twice
Burned some midnight oil last night and made it move! So far I’ve just jogged it around with the interface, super rad.
Getting closer. I’ve wired the main power, attached the two layers of the table top and installed spoil boards and router. I have a bit more wire management to wrap up, and figure out what I’m going to do for dust hose and router power support.
I managed to get my interim dust collection set up, I've trammed the machine as close as I can get it (as close as my eye can tell on a ~8" radius out of the collet) and I've double and triple checked all my v-wheels and lead screws. I'm hoping I can build up the courage to surface the spoil board tonight / tomorrow. Any tips / tricks? I've read a handful of the spoil board threads, and think I have a pretty good grip on what needs to happen. One question I have is, does the wizard ramp to the skim depth or plunge straight there? I don't think it should matter for the depth of cut I'll be taking, but the cutter I have has 3 carbide tips with a 'deadzone' in the center.
I got my spoilboard surfaced a week ago, it took a few attempts, but in the end it turned out great. The first round I found the machine needed a bit more truing up it was good at the “home” side, but at the end of X there was a bit of a step between passes. Second round I got about 1/3 of the way through and decided I needed to crank the feed up more that the slider would allow. By the third time it was spot on. After I surfaced it I used a 60 degree v bit to scribe a 3” grid. That came in really handy this evening. Tonight I cut my first ‘things’. To test the waters and learn how the probe worked, I made a support to brace the abs pipe coming off the dust cyclone so the vacuum connection isn’t stressing the cyclone. Next I cut some 3/8 abs donuts to make magnetic dust hose quick connects. I’m learning a bunch every time I run it. Tonights lesson was: cut one part and test it before you cut 4 parts that need rework . The holes I milled for the magnets are about 1/32 too shallow, but that’s an easy fix. Everything came out bang on size and the probe was super easy to use. One issue I’m having is getting the collets / bit to release from the router. Is there any magic trick? Is there a lube that’s ok to use on the collets?
Did you snap the collet into the nut before threading it onto the Router11? The first time I used mine, I was not familiar with the ER system and did not do that and everything was difficult to disassemble Luckily, someone asked a similar question to yours that same day and showed a drawing like this to explain it. I have actually bought additional collet nuts. I have one for my 8mm collet because that is nearly impossible to get out of the nut. There is not much exposed to help push it out of the nut.
I can understand why you’ve done this. Getting the collets out of the nut can be a bit of a PITA. Not nearly as bad as getting the bit and collet out of the router though. Overall I’m loving the machine. Buying used I was nervous that I’d be disappointed with the accuracy and repeatability, but everything I’ve done has turned out great. I’m still working out feeds and speeds, but nothing has been so far off as to cause a problem. There’s a few improvements I’d like to make, but that will be ongoing. I got the magnetic dust connectors installed yesterday, and they make cleaning up the bits that spill out of the boot a cinch. I’ve done a handful of projects that were just for fun and to see what the machine could do, but yesterday my daughter and I made a sign for her room that I’d consider the first ‘finished’ product. The sign is cut from oak with a maple heart inlay. She coloured the heart before we popped it in. Went in with a mallet and it’s tight. No sanding, no messing around. It was very satisfying. I showed a friend last night and he asked if I could make one for his daughter… and it begins .
