Few quick questions.

I keep coming back to thinking I need a machine. Had been considering the Workbee but curious what the differences are between the Lead and Workbee? Also my needs are 40" x 60" and curious if there will be a LEAD machine in that size. I am OK with running slow on the long axis to avoid leadscrew whip. Would prefer the long axis to be Dual Leadscrews on the bottom and the gantry to be the short travel axis.

I have a shapeoko here at work and will be running a test this week to see if it will work for my needs. Mostly thin sheet aluminum and occasionally a few parts as thick as 1/2" 6061. Some wood as well. This is for an airplane build.

 

I almost bought the shapeoko and Im glad I didnt. They claim to cut aluminum and it will but very slowly. You will get deflection and those belts will stretch. Compared to the OpenBuilds eco system you get total customization to suit your needs with a price point comparable to the Inventables and Shapeoko. So far from my experience, the customer support is great.

 

Day 31 - All Is Lost:
The seas froth and bubble, as if they wish to wrap us in their lethal embrace. The mast is broken, the sails are in ruins, the ship is a junk. The hull split wide, as if opened by the builders. The captain has gone mad, muttering endlessly about "sea and sea". A sudden shout is heard over the tempest - "BAT OVERBOARD!"



You guys don't mess around when it comes to packing, do you?

Looks like it paid off... everything on the packing list is there (I checked. yup, every screw. every. last. ***** ** ***ing ****. screw. couldn't you have swapped out some of the self-tapping screws with self-counting screws? tapping is easy), but I didn't think to cross-check against the BOM, which is what actually matters. Oops. One thing that would've made the process a little easier would be including the name or SKU of the parts on the bag - there were a few things I had to look up on the site to identify.

The wrench & the driver set don't show up on the list, but made it into the box anyhow. The rather nice looking "Made in USA" driver set, even. I didn't know there were metric drivers being made domestically. You don't mention that part on the store page, either.

The finish on the rails did get a few scuffs and scratches already, though (some in transit, some because I'm clumsy) - one of the reasons I was having second thoughts about ordering the black version. Of course, those scuffs and scratches will soon be covered over by the scrapes and gouges of reckless use and/or collisions with wandering machine tools. Luckily the lighting's poor in the basement.

On the whole, though, everything looks great... I'm sorely tempted to forego sleep and start building right now.


-Bats
... --- ... ---. / ... .. -. -.- .. -. --. / .. -. / .- / ... . .- / --- ..-. / -... ..- -... -... .-.. . / .-- .-. .- .--. ---. / ... --- ... ---.

 

So I'm thinking of going the T-Slot waste board route this time. While looking at the 20x40 stiffeners on the bottom that run along y-axis it will become more challenging to add t-slots and MDF in combination while maximizing the available Z-axis height.

Any suggestions?

 

I’m planning on doing the same. I’ll pocket the t slots out of the actual wasteboard vs being on top of the wasteboard like my xcarve

 

Can someone clarify a bit more, I am not sure I follow how or where you would add these?

 

My thought was to mill slots into the wasteboard, and then lay in some T-track like these [ https://www.amazon.com/POWERTEC-71118-Double-Cut-Universal-Predrilled/dp/B074MN2CPL ]. I imagine it would also be possible to use 20x20 V-slot, but you'd have to have a pretty thick wasteboard.

Another option - which I used on my last machine - was to drill a 1" grid of holes into the wasteboard for threaded inserts [ https://www.amazon.com/Z-Threaded-Hex-Flanged-Internal-Threads/dp/B002KT43MU/ - the $7 pack, not the $90 one - yikes! ] and then make Inventables-style clamps [ Clamp Set ] with various-length arms that screwed on. It's not something I'd recommend if T-track is an option, since it's more work and not nearly as versatile, but it's a viable alternative if you've sunk all your money into other parts & come up short on cash*. They also make a smaller target to hit when you send your tool cruising through the wasteboard, and are cheaper to replace. Not that I've ever done anything like that... this week.


-Bats
* in other words, it's probably what I'm going to end up doing yet again, at least for the first month or so.

 

I've made a tweak to my build to support a split wasteboard. I built a flip-up torsion box to float over my table saw (space constraints). I left a large opening in the torsion box and exchanged the center 20x40 extrusion with a 40x40. The intent is to be able to roll the table saw out from underneath and route the long end of parts, etc. The opening in the torsion box will be used for fixturing location etc. It also gives me room for a 4th axis and vices as well.

I placed t-nuts on the top sides to allow easy removal of the waste board,

 

Humble noob here. Forgive me if this is the wrong place to post.

First I congratulate Mark and Openbuilds on the Lead system. It's a great design (for my money) well executed. Packing as others noted was excellent. Putting it together was a very gratifying experience. Thanks.

My kit included all the required parts. My only complaint was a handful of 5mm t-nuts didn't have threads cut all the way through. PITA having to undo work because a captive t-nut has a bad thread. I'm not blaming Openbuilds. They can't QC every t-nut that comes through the door. But if you could spank your supplier for me, I'd appreciate it.

I'd also like to compliment Openbuilds on the control software and GCode webapp. Nicely done guys. It is especially nice to have software that runs on Linux, thank you very much. It over-torques my screws when businesses touting "open" only produce software that runs on proprietary monopolistic o/s. I know the economics, I've worked in software development for a long time. So again thanks for taking the trouble.

I have questions. I'll ask 'em in what I hope is the right forum.

 

So basically the torsion box bed lies down flat on top of the table saw surface but flips up when there is a need to use the table saw. Need to see more photos of the setup. I have a few initial concerns about maintaining square over time but maybe you've already accounted for this the design.

 

The box itself is quite rigid and for the most part 100% glue on all joining and laminated surfaces with screws added. I can't detect any flex and it's dead flat using a 4' level as a reference. May have gone overkill on hinges, but I wanted to be safe as use in a horizontal orientation is not ideal for loads.

It sets 24" off the wall and is secured with a french cleat with a strip across the back side to secure it.

All-in all, I'm quite happy with the end result. With a bit of luck, I'll have a dust boot ready and a 2nd stage bucket for the shop vac to begin surfacing the waste board and placing holes for threaded inserts..

 

So I did my first cut today. I’m trying to cut a pocket that is .76” wide and 30.75” long and .37 deep. My machine has been calibrated, stepper motors fine tuned..if I send the machine 450mm, I get 450mm on each axis.

I’m cutting the pocket...I’m getting the correct distance, but I’m not getting the .76 width. I’m at 74.50”. I can’t figure out why especially since the distances are set perfect. Any advice?

Dan

 

Do you have the correct size tool for the path you created. Maybe use caliber to check.

 

I checked that as well...bit size is perfect in Vcarve according to my calipers

 

Did you check the size of the bit, or the size of the slot it actually cuts on a single pass? The two aren't always the same - runout & cheap bits can cause surprisingly large discrepancies, which can definitely lead to unexpected final dimensions. That usually shows up as incorrect dimensions in both X and Y, though. Not that I'd know anything about high-runout spindles and cheap bits on my CNC machines. Nope. Never. Probably.

Having the spindle mounted crookedly can cause errors in only one dimension, although I don't think the stock setup would let you mount it that crooked.

Having play and/or backlash in one axis could do exactly what you describe (move the expected distance when you test it in a straight line, but give weird results with multiple passes), and having a loosely mounted spindle (or a spindle mount loose on the Z axis) might also do it.

I've run into the same problem a number of times in the past, but most of those were caused by things that just don't apply to a solid, sturdy machine like this. Yours is solid and sturdy, right? Nothing loose or wiggly anywhere (including the workpiece), no wheels spinning loose without a preload, the axes don't more or shift when you push on them?

If the machine's solid & square, my next inclination would be to glare suspiciously at the software, and see whether the model and/or toolpath it's creating are actually the same as the ones you're telling it to create, but it's been too long since I've worked with Vectric software to make any guesses.

Also, there's a chance it would help to know what is it you're cutting, what size/type of bit (are you making one pass with a 3/4" bit, or a half dozen with a 1/8", allowing small errors to add up), and maybe your feed rate.


-Bats
[ and I'm going to assume that 74.50" was a typo. If you're really getting a >6ft wide slot when you aim for 3/4in, there are bigger problems at play ]

 

Everything appears to be solid and done properly. I am cutting the wasteboard in an attempt to add 6 t tracks to the board to make it easier for clamping material down. 3/4” thick MDF, using a .25” EM

 

That is not quite correct since your CAM program doesn't know that your bit is undersized and therefore will have each pass at the correct place. What you'll have is a thin wall (if at all) between the passes and overall the pocket will be only a little bit smaller than you had planned.

 

Can anyone give advice regarding connecting the xpro v3 to the digital loggers power strip? My lead machine is running great, but I'd like to get the spindle power control wired up.

Also interested to hear what folks are using for a dust shoe, or if I should design and cut something out.

Thanks!

 

Its finally done! T-Track installed, bump stop in...just needs dust collection and she will be working as my second machine!

 

Looks great, mind posting a few photos of the wire routing.

 

The wire routing is basically the same as the video instructions. Only thing I added on my own was the IOT relat and a z probe which just run behind the machine to the controller. I’ll take photos for you later today

 

I connected the IoT switch to the xpro v3, pretty much guessed and hopped for the best but if you need help let me know i can take a picture on how i did it. the only think i dont know yet is how to wire the z prove or how to use it on the control, maybe i should use something else instead of the openBuild control.

attaching images of the IoT :

router cable added to the drag chain like the video shows.


since the router cable is not that long i got an extension on HD i think was something like workshop extension, but i guess any would do.


putting the things underneath the table, still working on the table ..


as far as the wiring goes i did this if I remember correctly,
used two wire cable, connected one to gnd and another on the output label SPL and connected that on the input of the IOT the green connector, it has labels for +/- (- is gnd, + to spl). so far its working great.

 

Any pictures of the probe setup?

 

Thanks! That works great! I also wired in my emergency stop button. If anyone is interested I uploaded some build pics here:

OpenBuilds LEAD Machine 1010 40" x 40"

Cheers!

 

Looks great! I like the idea behind those T-tracks, where did you purchase them from?

 

I got them on amazon. Powertec t track. I got the 36” tracks and cut them down to about 31”