Hi all, I just finished my lead 1515 machine setup and I’m looking to flatten my mdf spoiler board. I have a few concerns. 1. How can I get the whole board flat? My router bit won’t reach the outer edges of the board so what do you do about this? 2. How do you know what feed speeds/router spindle speed to get? I looked online but couldn’t find anything. 3. How do you zero a flattening bit? How do I ensure that when the machine is at the rear of the unit it does not crash into the back? Because there is not a limit switch on that side. Thanks!
1. My spoil board is only as wide as I can reach with a 3/4" surfacing bit. So, you can cut it smaller so it can all get surfaced, or leave it as is and only surface what you can reach and then you well have built in straight-edges on both sides you can accurately align your stock with prior to clamping it down. I actually do this on one side of my spoil board on purpose. Then I can use a set of 1-2-3 blocks against this leftover "straight-edge" and then place the material I plan to cut against the 1-2-3 blocks and I now know it is square with my gantry. 2. I surface at 0.5mm of depth at 2500mm/min. I can't remember what speed setting on my router because it has been awhile. 3. You zero it the same way you zero it at other times if you have a probe, but this time you are just placing it on the spoilbaord. If it is the OpenBuilds XYZ probe, just flip it over upside down so it lays flat. Or, put your endmill in the router, but do not tighten all the way. Then bring the router down until the end mill touches the spoil-board. By leaving it a little loose, you do not have to worry about if you hit the spoilboard a little faster than touch meant to because the endmill can slide up the collet. Then, tighten up the collet all the way and set z zero manually. This last method was how I would zero my Z on everything before I got a probe.
Thank you! that is all awesome information. The only thing i am nervous about is hitting the back of my machine where there is not a limit switch. Was this a problem for anyone else? How can i ensure i don't hit into the back of the machine? That seems like a dumb questions i suppose, but I'm genuinely nervous about it. haha
Two options: buy more switches (easiest) Or enable soft limit, set Max Travel distances to what your machine allows: Read up about Soft Limits at github.com/gnea/grbl/wiki > Configuration page > $20 But do read ALL the Grbl wiki sometime, goldmine of info, greatly eases the learning curve when you understand what grbl wants and needs and does. Option 3: don't generate jobs that overrun the workarea, and dont forget to SetZero (;
i would definitely purchase more switches, but how would I hook them up to the black box? I figured if I measured out the work area it will be good enough but I’d like the safety of switches. Haha
Just wire them in parallel (Xtension limits make this easy) Gnd on controller to Gnd on first switch to Gnd on second switch V+ on controller to v+ on first switch to v+ on second switch Sig on controller to sig on first switch to sig on second switch
If you haven't already make sure you tram the machine before you surface that large cutting area. I learned that the hard way. Once you do that I'd do a test spoil board to double check your tram. Also, consider a raised spoil board for the actual cutting area. Like you've already noticed the machine bed is larger than the cutting area so if you machine down just the cutting area it'll be difficult to put a large piece of wood across the entire bed because the surface isn't completely level. I think the main LEAD 1515 thread has some more info on this.
I looked at a video about tramming, I’ll have to get a dial indicatior. Any specific video you recommend? And more importantly, how would you adjust the machine itself for any inaccuracies?
Unless you have the high Z mod those dual dial indicators won't rotate 360 degrees on the LEAD 1515. I learned that the hard way. I did the glass method with cards and dual dial indicators. Adjusting...good question. I was told to adjust the upper gantry arms and not the spindle mount. I'd pay money for that video from OB. I ended up doing a combination of both.
wait so you did or didn’t use dual dial indicators? I have neither. Haha. Is there not enough clearance? And could you explain in a little more detail about how/where you made your adjustments? I appreciate it.
sorry, I wasn't very clear. I have the high Z mod so I did use the dial indicators, I didn't have the mod at first. If you have the stock LEAD 1515 the dual dial indicator method will not work because the dial indicators will not spin 360 degrees. There may be some indicators that are smaller but I couldn't find any before I made the z mod. I had to lean my upper gantry's slightly but I also moved the bottom of the spindle carriage outwards with shims(feeler gauges). I'm not saying this is the correct way but this is the only way it would work on my machine. I made sure everything else was perfectly square before I did any of this and it was. I haven't heard from anyone else about how they trammed theirs so maybe we'll get some other ideas. I probably wouldn't have messed with the gantry's in hindsight unless there was a bad twist.
I am looking for the same thing. I bought a stock LEAD 1515 and need to bring the bottom of the router out just a hair. There does not seems to be a good way to do this due to the 4 screws in the back of the Z-axis. And the 2 90 deg corner brackets below that seem to have no effect if you shim out due to those 4 screws. I was thinking about shim behind where the 2 back plates. and 8 90 deg corner brackets are. But, before I did that I wanted to see what everyone did. Any suggestion welcome. I wish it was as easy as this video from Avid. Machine Calibration
I ended up buying precision steel shims and a set of feeler gauges as well as a set of 123 blocks. I flattened it once, then loosened 4 router mount screws on the back as well as the two brackets in the front. Shimmed them probably 20 different times. I got it really close before I had to stop messing with it to get some projects done. Flattening is t perfect but it definitely did the job.
Michael, How did you get to those 4 screws holding on to the router without taking your z-axis apart?
/ragequit /bleach /tub /toaster Are you kidding me?!? *sigh* Well... I guess I'll end up doing the same thing. OCD is a b*%#h Thanks for the info!
I pray someone tells me there’s an easier way. Because I’m not done with mine either. But I’m just telling you my experience. Haha glad I could help in some way. I needed a ton during my build. Also, make sure you firmly seat your wrenches in the bolts because I stripped out a few and it’s highly aggravating. Had to order spare bolts. Haha
Yeah, I noticed that the metal seems soft around the hex holes as well. I am sure by the time I get done with this setup I will have done the same thing.
Loosen the screws that hold the X rail, and roll it about itself until the Z axis is perpendicular to the bed.
Roll it forward or backwards a little until the Z straightens out. - note the direction the Z is out by, and then follow backward to the X-rail, and adjust it relative to the Y uprights until the issue is resolved.
On my Lathe build I had issues but realized that I did not have the X axis beams attached square to the uprights. There was a small gap where the bottom of the X cbeams were supposed to be touching the uprights. I believe what Peter is saying is to make sure it is square, and if not adjust it at those joints due to ease of access. But maybe I am wrong.
Yep, I wasn't a fan of the 90 deg corner brackets. Cast vs milled. Yeah, its got a little tab to keep things in the groove. But, how helpful is it really. I noticed that some of the cast corners are not 100% square or completely smooth surfaces. Seems like this will be a great starter CNC for the money... once I get things working as intended. Just wish some of the small things I had ran into were fix before Openbuild sent the CNC to it's customers. Maybe send a deburring tool as well. I've worked with aluminium extrusion in Glazing for years and knew to watch the edges for burs. But, I didn't think to watched the nicely painted aluminium plates too. Aluminium Plates 2 / Me 0. lol Thanks for the info...I will go back over that too and see if I can make a change there before trying to messing with the X-axis and shimming. Another improvement idea would be to have an easy adjustment screws for Tramming.
