I’m getting ready to buy the kit and build my first MPCNC machine. I’m going to follow the guidance and not install end stops. I have a suspicion that I’ll want to add these later. I’m going to get the full Rambo board to future proof, but I’m also wondering if I should buy the Direct/Dual Endstops option too. Put another way, can I buy the dual endstop wiring kit but install it without the endstops? Then later install the switches and make the firmware changes if I decide I need them.
If you can easily afford it now then You should go ahead and purchase/install the harness when you build. Your plan of adding the switches and code later will work well. Think of it as adding wires while the walls in your home are opened up… you want to get anything in there you could foreseeably want in the future otherwise it will cost a lot to add later. Dual endstop wires go through the cable chains and x y tubes… not an easy thing to add after it is assembled.
Having read and sometimes responded to many similar questions to your, and having personally gone from serial to dual end stops, I’ve developed an opinion. If you strongly believe you are going to want electronic dual end stops in the future I agree with Kev…order the dual end stop harness when you make your kit purchase (I think it only adds $2), and use that wiring for your machine. It will potentially save you from 1) having to flash new firmware, and 2) having to pull out all the serial wiring and replace it with dual wiring.
At the cost of a bit more work, consider installing a two-conductor extension cable between the harness and the trucks that is a bit longer that the cables that go between your steppers and the harness. The harness connection usually ends up inside tubing or sleeving or a cable chain. By extending the wiring now, you won’t have to pull the wire out to make the connection later. The harness uses Dupont connectors, but you can also just clip those off and solder the extension cable directly.