Hello everyone, I Decided to do my first cut today and it turned out quite tragic LOL. The spindle really wobbles quite badly, shown in the video i attached. I made the Z higher (see picture) but since buying the parts ive noticed that open builds have an extra carriage and C beam for supportwith their mod. Perhaps this is the reason im getting wobble ? I attached a pic of the machine and a small clip of the spindle going into some ply. Any advice or input would be greatly appreciated Lead 1010 openbuilds blackbox 2.2kw Spindle Bran
Yes, you definitely need the extra gantry - that set up looks decidedly dodgy and you're only drilling!
One thing new builders need to understand is that the further your cutting force is from the gantry, the greater the leverage is. Your gantry is a foot above your collet. Plus the drill bit is maybe 5 inches. That's the longest drill bit or end mill you will ever use. With that said, you can drop the gantry all the way down to the wheels. That alone will triple if not quadruple the rigidity. The second glaring issue here is the choice of spindle. a 2.2kW spindle is just too much for these v-wheel based machines. Even a regular router (600-1000W) can max out the v-wheel set up if used to its fullest. The only benefit to a larer spindle is a larger collet range, but there's no point if you can't use a larger end mill. The third issue is that you are using what appears to be a regular twist drill. They aren't made to spin at even the minimum that spindle wants to spin at. The drill by itself is probably wobbling. Edit: Meant to say gantry and not axis
Yup, as Kevon notes you broke just about every rule in the book here. You've got to be low and tight if you want decent results. Drop the powered X-axis rail down to just above the Y-axis gantry plates and add another (unpowered) X-axis rail and 3 plate gantry set back at the top. With enough distance between the upper and lower rails you may be able to get reasonable use out of that size spindle.
Yep. As built, I'd be somewhat surprised if that machine could even take a 400W spindle or Dremel. The way you resist leverage is with reverse leverage- "rigidity" is really just leverage against twisting. Make all three axis carriages twice as wide. Even then, you don't have enough bearing surface- you need way more wheels. To illustrate what Kevon said: And the fix, roughly color coded: Yes, you'll lose some travel in all three axes. You have to take that into account when you size your machine- it should be about a foot bigger in every axis than your intended travels, if you really want to make it properly rigid. At least 8 inches, even on smaller machines. There's a reason most people only end up with 2-4" of Z travel on routers. You really have to focus hard on the gantry and columns if you want meaningful Z travel. A CNC machine is just a series of levers. You have to make them push in the right directions.
Thanks for all the input guy. I purchased the 2.2kw spindle cause it wasnt much more and at the time i thought why not, when i opened it up and felt how heavy it was i straight away got nervous but then thought why would they sell me this as part of a kit if it didnt work..... I guess for the extra money. same goes with the extended Z i guess. Can someone comment on my plan to fix these issue, that would be awesome. -Buy the open Builds High Z Mod. To fix the the side to side wobble -Downgrade the 2.2kw spindle weighing 5.3KG to a 1.5kw 2.8KG seen here 1.5kW Air Cooled Spindle Bundle - Maker Store PTY LTD Also since im pulling it apart would i see some improvements upgrading the carriages from 8 wheels to 12 (6 top 6 bottom) Thanks Bran
its a 6mm ball nose end mill 2 Flute BALL NOSE Carbide Mill (for 3D Carving) Is this not suitable ? Thanks, Bran
That should help a lot. But do you need it that high? If you are only cutting sheet goods, I would lower the whole High Z mod and your original beam down so you have about 3 inches of cutting space. It is hard to find an endmill much longer than 3 inches anyways.
Don't toss the spindle just yet. Let's see if you can stabilize what you have first and then see if you can make it work. As for purchasing the High Z Mod, I don't think the kit of parts that comes with it will get you where you seek. Really all you need are (3) XLarge C-Beam Gantry Kit, a length of C-Beam® Linear Rail, a whole mess of connectors for the ends (corner brackets, T-nuts, screws), and the longer screws and 9mm spacers to combine two of the gantry plates. Drop the powered X rail down to just above the Y-axis plates and add the new rail assembly at the top. With this combination you may be able to get away with the current spindle (or maybe not) but you won't know until you're in a position to give it a try.
This is kind what i was thinking then i guess i can keep making it higher until it becomes unstable . Maybe combined with a lighter spindle i can get slightly more working height then the stock lead 1010.. maybe ?
Just wanted to apologise for my misunderstanding and say thanks to everyone who helped hahah. I've just realised after studying the high z mod picture than all it does is allow the machine to accept higher stock the cutting depth isnt that different!! I have about 90mm of endmill bellow my spindle collet so i guess thats my cutting depth and i should lower both C-Beams (powered and z mod) to suite that 90mm ? Maybe after all this i can get a little more cutting depth than the standard 1010 as well as a deeper understanding of my machine hahah.
