recognizable! 
Very impressive and clean ! I would hardly dare to use this table, because it looks that beautiful!
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I lied about not getting back to it for a day or twoā¦ 
One of the z rollers is a bit too tight, possibly because of a slight error in the bolt centres on the plate - Iāll get back to that once I know I can get other things working.
Iām not sure if Iām a bit out of sequence here, but it just seemed like the simplest way for me to get a handle on the electrical bits - I can see if the stepper motors work without having things move around the place. Have I mentioned Iām a bit scared of the next bit?
Thank you all for standing by.
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I am wading through the wiring stuff for my Rambo 1.4, trying to remember all of the bits Iāve read and re-read and have a little bell ringing in the back of my brain.
I ordered Dual End Stops with the kit intending to fit them at some later stage once I was comfortable with everything. I presume that means the board has been flashed by Ryan @vicious1 to suit - does that mean they must be installed from the outset, or can I proceed without them?
Having got this far Iām worrying that simplifying the setup by eliminating them will complicate things! 
You can skip the endstops. Just donāt home the machine.
AFAIK, Ryan doesnāt flash the dual low rider firmware in the shop. You can check with M115. There will be a number like v510S. S means serial. D is dual for mpcnc. DL is dual for low rider. My guess is you have v510D.
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Thanks Jeff - just when Iāve spent a night not sleeping on it too! I completely understood the first line, then things got tricky! Just to show that I am not asking questions without first looking for the answers elsewhere, I now know that M115 is the Marlin build!
The next step is one that Iāve been putting off of course - Iām going to have to figure out Repetier. That will be trickier than you can imagine for a number of reasons - Iāll report back in a few days!
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In the spirit of documenting the whole build and risking a lot of eyes glazing over, I spent a bit of time yesterday not downloading Repetier. Iām p;retty gunshy about a bit of kit which on in the same sentence refers to āthe latest stable releaseā and āthe NEW Mountain Lion OSā - NEW here referring to a nine year old release! 
Mac Users please feel free to step in here to save me!
I did tidy up the wiring (just taped it loosely to make it more manageable), bought a new ātoaster leadā so I could plug in the power pack, got everything powered up and with rising confidence completely failed to find any of the steppers on the screen.
I will make a slight adjustment to the case around the control knob today - being able to move it might make a difference. 
On a serious note - that label on the the left hand side of the knob - āRemove seal after washingā - I presume since I donāt intend to wash anything itās OK to remove? Or is āwashingā some sort of fancy electrical term?
This seriously did my head in. Iāve mentioned before that I know almost nothing about this stuff. I am quite anxious not to make a mistake and although my profile says Iāve spent a day reading these forums, the real number is more like MONTHS if counting the time lurking not logged in.
Therefore, Iām inclined to check first - move later. NOTE - Iāve tested my machine and have movement to all steppers - IT LIVES! So the following question is for my education only.
After Iād figured it out, I still donāt quite get why it works, so if someone can explain in words of single syllables Iād appreciate it. Something like āyou are wrongā would be reassuring.
Here is the wiring diagram from Wiring The Steppers - V1 Engineering Documentation with the supplied loom. Note the hand drawn sketch on the instruction page matches this diagram, but the photo there (which was my clue) has the āWinding 2ā connections reversed. I had tried all manner of flipping plugs and so on, but hadnāt consider the two windings as separate entities. Once I got my head around the reversal of the second winding wire I could see that there was at least continuity there, but how does that work if the current is flowing in reverse, and is the drawing still correct?
Thanks
Stepper motors are funny. The drivers are constantly switching which direction the current goes to push or pull it to make it spin.
Reversing a single coil makes it go the other way. Both ways are correct, but it reverses direction of the shaft.
Swapping the coils also reverses the direction.
Here is the fun part. Taking wires 1234 and making them 4321 also reverses it. Because each of these steps reverse the direction:
1243
2143
4321
Three reverses is one reverse.
So wire it either way. If one of the motors is going the wrong way, reverse the plug. If they both are, reverse the plug at the driver.
Just donāt mix the coils. 1324 doesnāt work.
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Thanks Jeff, now thatās about as clear as mud! I get it, but hope thereās no exam later.
One of the things that seems to take a bit of finding is the correct connections to the LCD screen. Iāve posted this pic on another thread today but am burying it here in case anyone with a āblank LCDā stumbles across it in future.
While Iām here - why does everyone seem to keep that power adapter rather than snipping it off and hard wiring it in? Iāve made the little jumper for now, but thatās one thing on a growing list of changes to be made.
Some people have complained about those being dongles not working. The advice around here is to cut them off.
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I think thatās a great idea, two fewer connections to come loose. Itās on my list.
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Iāve pretty much spent the whole day peering through the understandascope.
I now have - Repetier working on the Mac, but canāt find any of my USB C to A adaptors which means I canāt plug in the cord from Powerbook to Rambo. I have a sneaking suspicion that they are all on the boat, which has been locked in a shed in Belgium for a couple of years, and since we have been locked in Aus for a similar time, I think Iād better buy some more! Doh!
I have Kiri-Moto working too. Itās not Estl-cam I know and that will put me behind the 8 ball when the inevitable questions arise, but I could buy some commercial software for the price of Windows and an emulator (which I am quite tempted to do). For now this all seems to work in theory anyway.
I donāt have any belts on the machine - but all the steppers work and I think they are even in synch and moving in the right direction.
Iām just enjoying fiddling at the moment, so donāt expect a crown any time soon, but anything can happen.
What happens to the power cables (spindle and board) - do they just hang in a bit of a loop below the table?
Finally - I have the LCD in Ryansās @vicious1 case, it did take a little bit of fettling round the knob to get proper clearance, but itās a lovely bit of design-for-purpose.
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I not only kept the power adapter plug but am glad I did. I made a remix of the 3D-printed case that was suggested here on the site (for the type of board I have, a BigTreeTech SKR Pro 1.2 with a touchscreen that is a BigTreeTech TFT3.5 E3) and one of my mods in the remix was to make a little āsledā inside the case for holding the bit that takes the power adapter barrel on one side and takes 2 raw wires screwed down on the other side. That sled holds the piece facing a hole that lets me plug / unplug the unit to power it. Because the power cord is (not far from there) zip tied to the setup, when I need to power on the unit I grab the dangling cord and plug it in. I was in a hurry to get mine built and get a job done, and so, short of installing a switch, this gives me a handy way to on/off the thing.
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Thanks for that, I did briefly consider doing something similar, and one day I might, but for now Iām trying to keep the whole setup āstockā or as near to it as my ever fidgiting brain will allow! There are a lot of details coming up that will stop me from getting it working if I spend any time thinking about them, so I have to keep my eye on the end game!
What is your table surface? Presumably you are using it for cutting vinyl?
Re. Stock
My kit is all stock. The BTT SKR and BTT TFT are a kit choice on the V1 order page (instead of RAMBO). Regardless of what board and touchscreen you have, you will want a case in place to put them in.
Re. Table
I had had to build my table out of OSB. Above that is a spoil-board of MDF, and above that is half-inch sheet of HDPE black plastic that is ready to be cut for a job.
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Iām hampered at the moment by a bit of a heavy sinus infection which seems to have turned my brain to mush, so instead of cracking on with a few projects Iām trying to think a bit ahead here.
I havenāt really considered what spindle options I have in the long term - I have a Ryobi 400w trim router, which buzzes happily at 29000 rpm apparently, and I was going to use that as a proof of concept sort of thing. I know there are many other builds that have used similar quite successfully, but from the little knowledge I have retained on this subject that might be a bit speedy for many uses.
My observation is that the Makita 710 seems to be the new default in places where the De Walt is not available, so Iām very inclined just to spend ANOTHER $290 and build that in from the start.
OR for a similar amount of money, should I just āinvestā in a 400w spindle with 3-13000 rpm electronic controls, proper collets etc etc.
Yep, you are all going to ask āWhat do you want to do with itā, and Iām afraid Iām going to reply that I have no clue - learning the CNC process is the next step!
If I could conduct a poll I would: Ryobi 400W (free), Makita (700w router) or Spindle 400w?
I have the Makita, and it has a knob that permits variable speed control. Seems to be working great.
Variable speed is pretty important. Whether itās manually done like the knob on my Makita, or controlled by software, either way, you really will want variable speed.
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Sorry about your sinus issue. Will pray for you.
Also, quick heads up, regarding the pen holder. I liked my first remix, howeverā¦
- It protruded too far out in front of the router plate.
- Something bumped it (see #1), and it broke.
So I designed a new version, which mounts the pen/knife tool closer to the router plate.
Hereās the link to the new design:
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After a few days of staring at the ceiling - head too unclear to work with either woodworking machinery or things that might go zap, I decided to fix a problem that doesnāt exist.
Iāve never liked the lack of strain relief on stepper wires. This may not cause an issue at all, but it just looks as though it will, and I find that little bit of naked wire between loom and stepper oh so jarring! 
So I drew a solution to allow cable covers to tie more securely, which looked so similar to this one: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3650033 , that in the end I just re-drew it a lot lighter as a bit of a printing challenge. (will eventually upload the STL in case thereās another print masochist in the world).
So here we are - 1mm wall thickness, PETG, 0.2mm layers, .4mm nozzle - drawn with zero tolerance between the two parts. Now Iām wondering what I could do with .05mm layers and a .25 nozzleā¦ hmmm.
I donāt expect that heat will be an issue, but if it is, the melting PLA bits the motors are mounted to should warn me in plenty of advance warning. (Serious thoughts on that would be welcome.)
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I love the way every day on this forum someone just bobs up with a first post showing their complete build and a bunch of things theyāve made. I am not one of those people.
Todayās angst is brought to you by - āletās reinvent how to mount the boardā.
I like Ryanās @vicious1 Gnarly case, and Iāve already posted pics of the lcd case, and all it should have taken was a bit of timber packing a few screws and it should have been mounted. I also think the āwingsā of those end plates on the LR2 pretty much defines the design, and think itās a pity to cover them up with random boxes. Therefore in the spirit of āIām not going to reinvent the wheel, or overthink thisā, hereās my new wheel.
I redrew Ryanās clip for the LCD screen, and used two trussed standoffs angled to match the sides of the case. Access for the USB point will be under the lid of the case. Itās a prototype, but itāll probably be there for a while.
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