Hi folks, Graham here, Out in BC Canada. I'll tell you a little about what's going on before the questions start. I'm in the middle of building a new workshop, 28'x16' which I do a lot of wood work, and wooden art like carved kitchen cabinet doors and such. Also do a ton of intarsia that I whole sell to gift and art shops. Now I had a work shop that collapsed in a snow storm and wrecking a bunch of things like my Solsylva cnc router that I had built, Yah it sucked losing that. So now I plan on purchasing a Workbee 1510 to get started with. I still have my motor drives and 3 425 oz steppers, the driver I'm guessing will be useless as it's only a 3 axis One question is the lead screws or a belt drive, from what I have read so far is with the 1500 mm y axis the belt has problems, but with the drive screw there is a ton of whip. So what have others done to correct these problems, I need the best precision posable with intarsia, inlay thick pieces can be a pain if something is off. So the screw drive maybe my best bet. Also the depth of the cut is a concern for me, some of my pieces will be 3" or more, I have seen one person remove the center beams and used aluminum angle to square the machine giving him an extra 2 inches I believe. Can you not add legs to the machine to raise it to give you more depth? That's what I did with my Solsylva and used angle iron to square and fasten it to the table. I'm gathering the lead screw is an 8mm acme rod, is it multiple threads? Can I change that to a 15mm rod? do you supply a 15mm rod? Would the blackbox run my 425 oz steppers, actually that's probably a dumb question as I'm sure it will, Still haven't tested them to see if they still work. I'm sure I have a few more questions but they slipped my mind hmmmm. Here's a few picts of some of what I do.
Alex has posted my change from belts to screws on the 1500mm side. However, you have two other options. 1 - stick with belts but double belt them (search the forums) or use an 8mm screw. Yes there will be whip but there are recent posts on how to overcome that. Here's a video on it too: Regarding BB being able to run your motors. There are lots of us running high torque motors. The BB has "High Powered 3.2A Stepper Drivers (Max rating 4A)". Not all 425oz motors are the same though. Check the specs. As far a Z height is concerned. There are a few threads on this. Here's one, but you should search for others: Ideas to increase Z-axis cutting height in the Workbee cnc ? Nice work btw
Thank you gentlemen so very much for the links and video's. I have a ton of reading a videos to watch. Sharmstr I'm not too sure what the specs are for my motors, I got them with my xylotex drivers years ago but they have nothing written on them, But I'm sure they will be fine and if not then I'll just get more. And thank you for the complement on my work, They were a job and a half to do I can tell you that, just doing the pattern took for ever. Thank god I only need to do it once, I always have the files. My plan is to have a few cnc routers going and a few 3d printers, going full robotics, Just waiting for the Stepford wives to come real, I'll be set for life lol.
Well, just hit us up with any questions. Also, I recently found out that the parts store can customize a machine for you. So if you want to go with 8mm screws on the 1510, shoot them an email and see if they can help you out. Also
Oh crap sorry, was a dumb joke, Not many women as far as I have seen are into cnc'ing, Your partner is a lucky person. And thank you for the info, I will hit them up for a customizing a machine for me. And lucky you for not being a man, some of us if not most of us are as dumb as a rock.
You could maybe customize it by having no screw in the 1510 kit and get a 1/2"-10 five start acme screw (12.7 mm) from McMaster-Carr (or eleswhere) and get 1/2-10 anti-backlash nuts. From what I have seen, they fit in the c-beam channel like the 8 mm. I use this 1/2-10 screw on my 1500 mm Y axis and have no whip. Or get the 8mm and use the center protion of the machine for all but the biggest cuts. Then whip should not be a problem (except maybe on very large cuts )
. Awesome, Thank you for the link, hope they deliver to Canada. Did you use these screws for both X and Y axis? What about bearings, I'm guessing they or I have to change the blocks to hold the lead screw? Were is this machine coming from? Gonna try and time the delivery when I finish my workshop.
I used the 1/2 only in my Y axis. I used 3/8 4 start screws from the same source on my x and z. I wanted the exact same travel per turn. They both move 1/2 inch. However, I would recommend the 8 mm because the collars, couplers, and anti backlash nuts are readily available. At the time I made mine the 1/2 were not available in the Openbuilds type format and 3/8 were impossible for me to find so I had to fabricate my own out of delrin which meant I had to fabricate a tap for each size. Also, I had to have the 3/8 screws turned down to 8 mm at the ends to fit bearings and couplers. If I didn't, I would have had to source imperial sized parts which cost 10 times as much.
Thanks for the info, I actually used 1/2 5 start on my old machine and made anti backlash and couplers for that out of nylon. made my own tap as you did, worked perfect, no backlash, nothing wore out for well over 2 years, I may use the double belt method for a bit as I plan on upgrading the machine as I go, Only thing I worry about is the accuracy using belts. doing 1 inch inlays need lots of accuracy, The wheels worry me a bit as well.
