It lives.. I'll post more on my experience later. Mechanically, assembly went mostly without a hitch, electronics on the other hand not so much. The video for the lead seems to use an xpro v3. I have the v4. The case kit lacks the appropriate screws to mount the board, the fan connector does not fit.. unless you force it, the limit switches took a little finagling to work..

 

Thanks,

I actually bought the unit via ebay from a person who purchased it and never assembled it, boxes were still sealed (btw.. holy crap.. took as much time to unwrap as to assemble the unit). I do have the original packing slip/bom, so I am not sure if I am entitled to warranty/parts support. Also there were 8 M5 20mm missing (I had to cannibalize 1 screw from each of the ends of the C mounts.

I have the fan operational, I jammed the connector on there.
Case wise, I am actually considering getting the Spark case for the unit..
I'll record a video later.. some odd sounds when moving. I'm thinking it might be binding a little. I am going to use some dry lubricant on the lead screws to see if that helps, the nut blocks were really tight running the screws through during assembly.

 

Do you guys/gals know if the electronics/software video for the lead 1010 covers the installation of the blackbox as well? Is there or will there be one if it doesn't? Thanks!

 

Is there one for the Xpro V4.. is it maybe in another build video?

 

They are not quite the same. yes, the AXYZ is the same and easy enough, and the fan was not an issue either, it was the limit switches where the labeling is different and caused a little bit of confusion, as on the v4 they are identified as the 3 white headers, but no identification for the wireblocks next to it which are for the limit switches and tied into the headers. Additionally, they need to make sure that what they send out is consistent, power form power supply to controller in the video is red/black, where as I received white/black. Again, not an issue for me, I got it all up and running, but I imagine there would be confusion for people who don't understand electronics or have an eng degree. Most people see Black and white and think live and neutral based on house wiring standards in the US, not + and -

It's just little things here and there that caused me to scratch my head, nothing that was a road block (except the missing screws, and even then I got it up an and running by just pointing the fan towards the board next to it but not assembled).

 

During my build, I had a really hard time getting the anti-backlash nut and the X and Y nut blocks to thread on to the lead screws. They ultimately went on but some plastic shavings came out where forcing the lead screw though "tapped" out some more material. Now that it is put together, the machine works, but it feels to me like there is more friction than necessary on those axis and that the torque required to turn the motor couplers is more than it should be if the setup was more friction-less. This is my first heavier-duty machine build, but when doing the equivalent in a 3D pritner with a nut on a lead screw, it turns very freely with the types of brass nuts those usually use.

I'm wondering if this is normal, how much I should worry about it, and whether I should request replacement nuts to the ones that came in the kit.

Did anyone else run into this?

 

I had the same issue.

 

How is yours running now? Did you do anything else after getting them on other than running them back and forth?

 

I was bored.. so I threw together this quick Fusion 360 model for a spoilerboard.

It is easily modifiable. Spacing for the holes is based on the count. See attached screenshot for the variables.
The holes are based on the dimensions for this flanged threaded insert. (Dimensional Drawings - Wood Threaded Inserts | E-Z LOK)

 

Nice! (and bonus points for Fusion instead of Sketchup!)

I used a similar design on my old machine that served me fairly well, even if it's not as versatile as T-slots. I made up a set of clamps based on these from Inventables, with a couple different length clamps and about six different lengths of 1/4"-20 screws & carriage bolts instead of the socket & flat ones from their kit - that way I could always adapt to different workpiece heights without worrying about excess screw sticking up for the tool to crash into.


-Bats
(crashing into the clamps themselves was another matter - every time I turned around, they were a different shape and size. but maybe I shouldn't have turned around while jogging a live tool in the first place)

 

Instead of changing the x-axis with a cnc4newbies one, would it be possible to use longer linear rails then 250mm.
Without a routerbit and with a 12mm thick wasteboard you have 105mm clearance.
The X-axis can travel 123mm.
If you use a bit of 40mm in lenght, you have an unused travel of 58 mm.

If you use linear rails of 300mm, you only have 8 mm unused travel.
Would it compromise the rigidity of the cnc?
As far as I can see, you wouldn't have to change anything else.

Stevens
(English is not my first language, calcultions may be susceptible to error)

 

Yeah,

Larger then that woul also not work with the travel of the X-axis.
I will try this out as soon as I buy the lead1010.

Thank you,
Stevens

 

Is it the inertia from the added weight that's the issue, or is it the leverage of having that extra flagpole of C-beam whipping around on top?

I ask because I already have at least twice the weight on mine (before anyone starts thinking it's a good idea to pile on weight, remember I'm using a short gantry) and even more than wanting to handle thicker workpieces or longer tools (which obviously causes issues with rigidity and leverage), I keep thinking a lot of tool changes would be easier with more Z travel.

Of course, keeping myself from trying to use the extra travel for real work once it's there might pose problems of its own.


-Bats
( "huh huh huh - you said 'longer tool'." "shut up, Bathead!")

 

Has anyone put the cnc4newbies linear z axis on the lead yet? I received mine yesterday and trying to figure out if I should mount it to the two z plates (where the z wheels and lead screw lock nut would be) and then attach the router mount to the front of the cnc4newbies? Or would one of those plates get removed and mounted to the front of the cnc4newbies z and then the router mount would attach to that? This is what I'm showing in the pics..... Sorry, hope I'm explaining so its understandable....

Going to mess with it more tonight but I thought I would see if anyone else has attempted yet.

 

I did see those. The one in the first post from trooper is the inventables spindle mount but he is using it on the lead machine. Not sure about the second one.

I'm going to mess around with it some more later and see what I can figure out.

 

I haven't worked with the cnc4newbies Z, but based on the pictures it looks like you've got the right idea. The ideal would probably be bolting the new axis to the X carriage, and then bolting the router mount directly to the new Z, but if the cnc4newbies doesn't have holes that match up with the router mount then what you're doing (using a gantry plate as an adapter between the cnc4newbies mounting holes and the OB router mount's holes) would be the next best thing.

You might also want to poke around in the Workbee thread. I think it uses the same Z setup as the Lead, and it's been around long enough to have a far more established & experienced userbase.


-Bats
( *gasp* sending people to other machine threads? heresy! blasphemy! treason! )

 

Well let me know what you figure out. I got mine in too but have only mounted my makita router to it. I am in the process of building a table for the lead before I put it together. Also still waiting on black box and wiring kit to come in since it's on back order

 

Well after an hour or so this is what I came up with.....

I'm not 100% sure if this is the way cnc4newbies intended for this to mount but it is rock solid! I tried to keep the two gantry plates together thinking it might offer extra strength but I couldn't get that to work.

The kit comes with hardware for the mount but I ended up using two 10mm screws from the lead build to secure the bottom two mounting holes. I used the larger 20mm hex screws that came with it for the top two mounts and the smaller 10mm hex screws that came with it for securing the router mount. There are 4 smaller hex screws for the motor.

Like I said I'm not sure if this is correct but it's solid. I wish there was more info out there about the cnc4newbies lead upgrade or at least some diagram to help guide with the install. I tried contacting them a few times with no response.

If anyone has any suggestions or comments please, I'm all ears.

 

did my first test run, but I only had a 1/4 router bit (mortising straight cut bit).. so hello world did not quite work but the logo came out.. too big of a bit for the finer details.. and hmm.. tasty tasty mdf dust . dust shoe is a definite

 

Well that looks good to me! I will try to contact them to see if I can get a response since I have a little time before I get to that point. They were pretty responsive when I was asking questions before placing my order

 

I have access to 3d printers at work, so I ended up printing off the 2 piece dust shoe that fits together with magnets. It was shared on the parts or projects area on the forums here by someone else.