Hey guys, I’ve been thinking about if or when I’ll upgrade to a Workbee from my old OX. I’ve just come from the shed where I was cutting some replacement door windows for my neighbour out of perspex. Admittedly I haven’t cut a lot of perspex but the first window cuts fine, the second window however, there’s mass binding. It goes terribly off course and I’m so annoyed because his given me just enough material. I figure this is due to perspex cuttings clogging between the bearings and the belts. A Workbee might not fix this specific problem, it might happen regardless. To shorten this post, I get good results with my OX most of the time but some slack never seems too far away and I’d like to reduce that. I want to be a more confident, better ‘machinist’? but I don’t think I’m going to get there with belts. I’m sure there are loads of you that have upgraded a long time ago. Would any of you care to share your thoughts between the two and talk me in to upgrading! Thanks
If you're talking 1010, I'd go LEAD over WorkBee. Stronger columns, better joining plate coverage, more modern plate design and usage, more extensible and adaptable (eg. high-Z) due to its greater modularity... It's just all-round the better machine. And it's $150 cheaper! I don't really understand why anyone would buy a WorkBee 1010 at this point, actually. WorkBee 1510 is still belt-driven and doesn't seem to be the most reliable design out there, from what I've seen on here. If the "SOMETHING BIG" is a screw-driven WorkBee 1515 or a LEAD 1515 (which it appears to be from the picture), I'd definitely wait for that. (Now I look again, it kinda looks like a LEAD 1515 with dual column screws for Z? That'd be pretty awesome, though not sure how it'd work with the BlackBox's 4 drivers.)
Sounds expensive! I'm scared! XD My local CNC... provider? Is Ooznest in the UK and I'm sure I read their Workbee is screw driven but I'd have to double check that now you've said that. The LEAD is something I've not really looked at, maybe because I've not really seen much availability for them over here? But it looks impressive. I should mention that I wasn't going to get a whole new machine. Currently I have a 1500 x 1000 OX so I've been eyeing up the same size [1510?] mechanical kit and transfer everything I can. Cost is unfortunately a factor. Thanks for you replies guys!
All the Ooznest workbee's (including the 1515) are now available as leadscrew unless you specifically ask for belt drive. The leadscrews are now tensioned to reduce whip. Alex.
I think I was actually aware of that since our last WorkBee thread, but since the UK wasn't mentioned... Since you're DIYing anyway, might not matter what you try to transfer to, you'd be buying separate components regardless. Both WorkBee and LEAD use C-Beam, which didn't exist when the OX came out. Other than maybe a couple of generic 2080 joining plates, I don't think you're gonna find much BOM crossover between ~2014 OpenBuilds and 2020 OpenBuilds. They were barely even using solid V-Wheels then! If it were me, I'd grab a few lengths of C-Beam, some leadscrew/motor-mount kits, and figure out how to combine them. You could use current 2080 Y rails as LEAD-style columns and maybe additional bottom bracing. Or even use the existing OX columns as WorkBee style columns, but not as strong because they're not double-plated-and-wheeled. Or just hold off for a while until you can justify the jump.
Or you can do what I did. Count up all your parts, figure out what you need to build a LEAD style machine with the existing parts plus new Cbeams and lead screws, and then take the leftover parts from the OX and make a CNC lathe for a couple hundred bucks.
I think I may have confused things, I apologies. But basically everything that I was planning to reuse are things like the PSU, the xPro board, motors, fans and any other wires. Whenever I'd had a problem with my CNC and I've mentioned it to my Dad his said 'Well if you want to get rid of it let me know', not 'Let me see if I can help' or anything constructive... I haven't thought through exactly how I was going to reuse whatever's left but I was going to suggest to my Dad making two small CNC's that are controlled by Arduino boards for more small, 3D, vCarve sort of work. I have no idea what I would make with a CNC lathe but it's a cool idea. Do you have a build thread for this that I can check out?
Yup. And it really is not much in the way of components. It is relatively cheap until you factor in the rotary axis. I think it cost as much as the other components.
So without a doubt, no brainer, much better machine [either the LEAD or Workbee] better results, hopefully, should have done it ages ago.
As you are in the UK, talk to Oozenest - their lead times are a bit long at the moment because of Covid. CNC Mechanical Kits | Provide Your Own Electronics | Ooznest Alex.
