Are you using the cnc4newbies z or doing your first run with the stock lead?

 

I'm using the stock lead at the moment.

 

Hello, first post, hopefully this is a good spot for a couple questions.

I'm trying to decide between this "lead" build or a "workbee" build. To me they generally look the same except a few wheels and the side plates. I guess my biggest question would be is one more "rigid" then the other? For general use would one be any better then the other? I was leaning towards the lead but I found a workbee (non amazon) for $150 less so I'm not sure which way to go.

Thx

 

I didnt had opportunity to test workbee, however amount of changes I've made in lead makes me think workbee is solving few of them.
IMHO lead cnc is like workbee without custom plates.


About z-axis. My concept seems to be fail It is bending, what is annoying I am unable to find where.
Looks like it is sum of problems, a little bending on X axis, a little bending on x axis carriage, and a little on z-axis (5mm alu + 5mm stainless steel support, with 15mm supports on each side).
I can literally bend it with finger What is annoying I've considered lever effect when designing.




EDIT!
NVM seems everything is ok, fixed few screws, mounted spindle and it works great (except bit is not straight after screwing...)

 

What are you using to generate the Trochoidal milling g-code?

 

estlcam

 

How are you guys sizing the spoilerboard.. I had to tweak the soft limits x y dimensions in the firmware as the stock values the moving parts kept hitting things. so after a little trial and error I changed the values to avoid hitting things.

That said.. when I designed my spoilboard in Fusion, I used the work area numbers identified in the Lead specs. That appears to fall well outside the limits though. So what values are people using for width and length.

This is my current build.

 

Can't help you with actual numbers, but had an identical situation with my workbee. Just to be on the safe side and make sure it didn't reach its soft limits I designed my spoiler board surfacing 5mm less than the machine dimensions I had to set.
Alex.

 

That is what I'm using as well.

 

I'm having an odd problem.. Hoping someone came across it and there is a solution before I start pulling the machine wiring apart.

When I turn off my router (the Dewalt one) the limit switch trips. Not a deal killer for now, as I have not made run any large jobs yet, small test runs. I'm more concerned that there is a grounding issue or a short somewhere that might trigger in the middle of a larger job and screw things up.

 

I assume your mains cable to the router is well away from stepper and limit switch wiring? When you switch off your router there will be a large back emf. The low voltage wiring can act as an arial and affect the electronics.
Alex.

 

Mine does the same thing, I’m probably going to reroute the power cable for the router overhead with the dust collection instead of along the drag chain.

 

Do it now @Dmhaes, the voltage spikes from switching off your router can be several 100's of volts. The transmission through other wiring acting as aerials is not efficient but your electronics could be permanently damaged - its not just an inconvenience.
Alex.

 

I'm familiar with the issue (my degree is Electrical Eng ) All of the low voltage wires go to the rear, high voltage to the front. They are are numerous feet apart. The only real connection is the power supply and router are plugged into the same power strip.

 

That's good practice @ljvb, not everyone knows that (see above). The symptoms (as I am sure you are aware) suggest voltage spikes getting through to the low voltage side - a decent power supply should stop interference via your power strip. The only suggestions I have are checking all the connectors on the wiring and possibly shielding the limit switch wiring.
Good luck, Alex.

 

Is it possible to configure the width and length of the lead cnc?

 

Yes, in the configuration options of the openbuilds software. You can set the limits and then upload to the firmware. Takes a little trial and error to get the exact values.

 

And for an update.. my laptop crapped out (the one I was using to connect to the Lead. So I picked up a Raspberry Pi 3 b+ the other day and the POE hat. (I have a rather hefty POE.. Power over Ethernet switch) . I'll be running cncjs and connecting to it remotely with another laptop to control the lead. I have not picked up a screen yet, the options are annoying and cheap.. or really good and expensive.

 

Would be curious to get more details on that setup once you get it figured out. I bought a cheapo chinese tablet to run mine on to start out so idk how long ill keep that around

 

It's pretty simple really. I was using CNCJS on my laptop. I'll still be using it, just on the Pi. the POE hat is just so I can power it from the switch, so I don't need to add another power block to the strip. cncjs is web based, and I have a folder mounted that when I drop a file into it it is loaded automatically. then I just use my tablet or laptop (other laptop, I have a few) to connect to the web interface, and manage it. Similar in nature to openbuilds website.

 

Perfect! Been waiting on my black box and worong kit that were on back order and they came in today!

 

Do the 2 leadscrew nuts for each leadscrew eliminate backlash? I haven't had time to go through all 16 pages for this design, thanks.

 

I'm not sure if this should be its own thread, but I'm in limit switch hell with my 1010, so I thought I'd try here first.

The machine seemed to run fine for a while and successfully milled some acrylic and routed some PCB's, but mostly was doing light duty and calibration work.

Once I switched to routing fully copper clad 18"x24" x062" PCB's I would get false limit switch triggers. They were repeatable and seemed to happen at about the same point of the cut on the work piece. I know this is a fairly common issue, and I've done some searching for solutions and tried some things that I'll list below, but here are the weirder points:

• The problem with false alarms on copper surfaces would consistently go away when I would clamp the work piece to ground. I don't like this solution because the route goes all the way around the work piece and the operator has to clamp it, then move the clamp to the other side of the spindle once it passes.
• Since the Alarm message doesn't say which axis had a limit trigger (WHY?!?) I tried running the test, disconnecting each limit switch form the BB in turn and then all of them. The problem happened even with all of the switches physically disconnected from the BlackBox. Huh?
• After even more testing, I finally ran into a case where the alarm would trigger even with the work piece grounded. In this case, I was trying to mill about 0.015" into a hard G10 table at the same time and it made it 3/4 of the way through (instead of about 1/4) and then stopped on the return path but showed no error (bCNC) and stayed in a run state. Looking at the log though, it showed an alarm1 error. I'm thinking this trigger may be a different problem from the others and may be related to a current spike form the steppers and/or spindle.

I've already done some searching on the issue and am working my way through the items in this thread: Electronics 101.


I'm starting to think I may have two problems: EMI/static buildup on a large conductive work surface and EMI caused by current spikes on the spindle or steppers.

My build is a LEAD1010 with a BlackBox controller. The high torque steppers weren't available when I ordered, so I used these NEMA 23's: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PNEPW4C/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

• 3Nm(425oz.in) holding torque
• NEMA 23 bipolar 2.24"x2.24"x4.45" 4-wire
• 1.8 deg. step angle(200 steps/rev)
• Rated current 4.2A & resistance 0.9ohms

The spindle is a Dewalt 611. I also have 2 usb cameras, a USB microscope, and an additional light and 12v power line to the gantry. The system acts as a CNC mill/router for large panel PCB's and also does some inspection and work and is a test bed for some computer vision experiments I'm doing. The spindle and a shop vac are plugged into the normally off ports on one of the new AC relays OB started selling. They are driven by the coolant output because the relay output on my BB isn't working. Maybe that indicates other possible problems on the BB that could be related to the false triggers? My BB was from the very first batch, I think.

I have no background in EE or really in building physical things in general. Most of my work has been in software, and I took this on as a learning project and to build a platform for some software experiments I want to do. It has definitely been a learning experience, and some of it has been fun, but I was so frustrated last night I was considering scrapping the whole thing and getting something off the shelf. I have a big sunk cost problem though, and I really do like using an open hardware and software platform. For its PCB cutting production role, however, it has to be reliable and I can't afford to spend a lot more time on it and certainly can't continue to fuss with it on and off for months to come. It needs to be able to reliably cut rectangles in big circuit board panels for about 2 hours a day without error or I need to find another solution. If this machine is always going to work more like a "hobby project" with various errors to ignore and workarounds that prevent a consistent repeatable process, then I need to quit spending time on it.

Stuff I've tried:

Started moving the system to a star ground setup with a common terminal point on the frame with a wire that goes from there to building ground. I haven't yet done everything in the electronics 101 post above. I really thought the kit would work by following the video and using the provided parts without having to do all that extra work.

I started with using the limit switches that came with the kit, but upgraded the Y and Z to beefier (but still pretty cheap) ones like these https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B06WRN7FQB/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1.

I grounded the vacuum hose in more places.

I re-routed the spindle power down the vacuum line instead of along the gantry (but then moved it back when it didn't help since it was ugly).

I removed the microscope and its light to reduce weight, power, and a possible source of EMI.

I did the test mentioned above removing the limit switches one at a time and still triggered the alarm with none plugged in. (Except the probe - that can't do it if not probing, right?)

Stuff I'm looking into trying:

Moving to NC instead of NO for the limits. This was next on my list to try, but after I was getting the errors without the limits even attached, I decided to post here first.

I'd rather not re-wire the whole thing, so I'm trying here before replacing all of the kit wiring with more expensive shielded wiring like this: https://smile.amazon.com/50-FEET-18...stepper+cable&qid=1557321843&s=gateway&sr=8-1 and a 2 wire version for the limits.

I'm also considering buying a 3rd round of limit switches and was considering these https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00FDT7...olid=3AO4XSHI98ODL&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it but would like suggestions.

Modifying my table with routed channels for ground wire to make permanent contact with tooling pins. Tricky because the pins are in plastic plug tooling and come in and out.

Adding a conductive, grounded wasteboard with plated holes that contact the pins (this wouldn't be that hard for me to do, but I'm worried it won't fix the problem due to the alarms triggering even with the switches off).

Adjusting the power on the Nema 23's. If I max the dial on the BB out, they fail with the "!" warning. If I back off about 1/4 turn, they don't seem to fail unless they are doing so and somehow triggering an Alarm1. They also don't seem to ever get hot.

Thanks to anyone that took the time to read all this! I really like what OpenBuilds is trying to do and how helpful the community has been.

-Brady

 

I won't comment on all your post - there are other people on here much more familiar with the black box than me who would be better able to advise.
You said "still triggered the alarm with none plugged in. (Except the probe - that can't do it if not probing, right?)" - well no - if it's picking up EMI then its acting as an aerial and could be creating a false signal. Unplug it and try again - won't necessarily solve your problem, but will eliminate another possibility.
Good luck!
Alex.

 

Ok, I'll try that. I meant though, that even if it did trigger, it shouldn't cause an alarm state unless a probe operation was in progress, right? I thought probe signals were ignored unless being polled during a probe command, but maybe that's not right.

 

I don't know - I don't have a black box so I don't know how it handles signals from a probe. On my workbee with a Duet controller to probe is paralleled to the Z limit switch, which is why I suggested trying that. I was going to tag some other team members to attract their attention to your post, but I see @sharmstr has already responded - I'll just add @Peter Van Der Walt in case he can help.
Alex.