Hello everyone, I am new to this and I am looking to now get myself up onto the better quality cnc ladder. I currently use a A3 Laser system which is very powerful and not chinese! I am happy with it and I use Lightburn and grbl on that, I have also a small desktop mill ( chinese) that i have been using for a few months to learn how to understand the basics of gcode and how the 3d environment works, Its not brilliant but does what its needed although its not a grbl board it only uses drufel and mach 3, the latter I am finding quite complicated. However it shows the process and I understand that. The laser is belt and the mill is screw. I have noticed with the belts that it is prone to needing adjustment over time. At the moment I do all my design in Easel and export to Drufel as I have a educational license. I would firstly like to know please what the differences are please between a Openbuilds Lead and a C- Beam machine, am i right in thinking the Lead uses Acme screws and the C-Beam is on belts or is it to do with the type and shape of the profiles/wheels Would I also be able to use a Makita router RTO 700 C until I can afford a larger and more powerful spindle. Also am I thinking right that the Blackbox Controller does not control the speed of these type of mills, De Walt, Makita, and a n other's ? How do you allow for that when milling please as my current mill stops and starts the spindle and will control the speed, do you just start the spindle running? Finally would I still be able to use Easel? The machine I am thinking of going for is a 1050 or a 1075 with the emphasis on the X mill head on the 10 length, simply as thats the type of rig that is best suited to my workspace. I understand the resolution is much better on screws than it is on belts but this is a fairly small machine so would it make that much of a difference, I guess also torque would be a factor as well with a lot more in a screw machine. Also that would be slower. I want a good quality finished product from what i make, I dont want to be sanding down all the time. I realise than some finishing is needed but the less the better. I will be using wood 75%, plastics 20% and Aluminium 5 % , that would possibly include copper and brass but only machining out a support plate nothing more really than that. I want to be able to make make name plates out of wood and plastics, boxes from solid wood, large letters raised items on wood etc. I work in cinematography/production and would also be small making items for use on sets like slates and other things. I also want to make some small toys for my wifes work. she is in early years and special needs. I have no problems working and designing in Easel and I am fine with Vector files and so on from lightburn. I still need a lot more experience which is why I will be buying a turn key kit from a supplier who I have now found and who is also a good maker/designer on here. I have no problem putting together a supplied kit, I might have some issues with calibration but general use should not be a problem as I have built a lot of machines and use complicated large camera rigs etc. I just would like to know the main question above and whether I am looking at the right sort of cnc build for a turnkey option. I want to use more than build a machine if that makes sense. although I understand that building it does give you insight in how it works and what to expect in maintenance etc.. Many thanks to everyone , Neil .
If you want over 1000mm by 1000mm work area you will need to custom build, or step up to 1500 x 1500. The plates that hold the gantry carriages remove the width of the plate plus anything else you have - like limit switches - that will interfere with movement at the extreme ends. The lead and C-Beam both use screws if they are under 1500 mm. A 1000mm by 1000mm LEAD machine would be great for cutting what you want to cut. It is screw driven so more precise. Also, you loose less working area in the Y axis because the Y gantry plates are only 125 mm wide compared to other models. You can also modify it to the High Z modification in the future. I use a Makita router like the one you mentioned and it works great. However, you will have to source a 65mm spindle mount elsewhere or print a shim. You should still be able to use Easel. Openbuilds has free CAM software designed for their machines that works very well. It was designed to be plug and play for new folks. The Blackbox controller does not control router speed. Personally, I do not see the point. I turn mine to the speed I want before starting the job since I am standing there anyways. You would need a spindle with a separate controller attached to the Blackbox, or a modification to your router. There are several threads on how to do that on this forum. The Blackbox will turn your Makita router on and off as well as your dust collection system if you hook it up to an IOT Relay like this IOT Switching Relay Power Strip . The Blackbox documentation tells you how to do it. OpenBuilds BlackBox 4X Documentation
