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View Full Version : My new toy.. Hope I've chosen wisely



Nthkentman
17-08-2014, 04:24 PM
Hi Guys,

It's an eMach EM900 ..Yeah..I've read various reviews and understand they've gone belly up and others have had problems...But it works (I'm told) and wasn't a bad price.
I hope you experts on here can help out occasionally as this machine is for my wife and I to start our new business.
Here's hoping....

13122 13123

JAZZCNC
19-08-2014, 09:57 AM
Got a feeling that is a chinese import and won't have been made by Emach.

Provided you can figure out the DSP controller and it as enough memory to take the G-code you need then you shouldn't have any trouble working it.
How it performs will depend on what components the machine is made from and how worn, ie linear rials and ballscrews motors etc.
Often these chinese machines are built to price so they cut corners in key areas that cost most money so chances are it uses supported round rails in place of profiled linear rails, Cheap low power analog drives and could use lead screw not ballscrews. Thou doubt it as ballscrews are cheap in china and have been for a long time.

If there's no slop and it works for what you need then none of this matters and if there is any slop or worn out they can all be replaced easy enough.
Often the one thing people want to change on these machines is the DSP controller. It's not unusual to see folks wanting to convert to Mach3 or Linux Cnc because the DSP controller is limiting what they can do. This is a little more involved and will require a little electronics hardware and some wiring changes but again no big deal if needed.

Have fun watch your fingers.!

Nthkentman
19-08-2014, 05:53 PM
Hi Jazzcnc

It has an emach badge and serial number on the side, so I naturally assume it was one of theirs. 2006 model, so perhaps made before the rot set in at the factory.
The current owner is the son of the (Late) granddad in a family "Oop Norf" in Halifax, the old boy bought it in 2007, had good service from emach at the time and used it very little. Allegedly it's had very little use overall and comes with a small selection of tooling.

I'll know more after Sunday when I collect it and get it back for a proper look-see, although I'll be unable to actually produce anything just yet as I'm still sorting somewhere to put it and use properly.
Having fun with the designing using V Carve trial, quite intuitive. I'm hoping it's post processor is simply G code as well.





Got a feeling that is a chinese import and won't have been made by Emach.

Provided you can figure out the DSP controller and it as enough memory to take the G-code you need then you shouldn't have any trouble working it.
How it performs will depend on what components the machine is made from and how worn, ie linear rials and ballscrews motors etc.
Often these chinese machines are built to price so they cut corners in key areas that cost most money so chances are it uses supported round rails in place of profiled linear rails, Cheap low power analog drives and could use lead screw not ballscrews. Thou doubt it as ballscrews are cheap in china and have been for a long time.

If there's no slop and it works for what you need then none of this matters and if there is any slop or worn out they can all be replaced easy enough.
Often the one thing people want to change on these machines is the DSP controller. It's not unusual to see folks wanting to convert to Mach3 or Linux Cnc because the DSP controller is limiting what they can do. This is a little more involved and will require a little electronics hardware and some wiring changes but again no big deal if needed.

Have fun watch your fingers.!

JAZZCNC
19-08-2014, 06:27 PM
Ye didn't mean it wasn't from E-mach but I'm confident they just badged up a Chinese import.

The post processing is done in CAM not at the controller IE: V carve and output in the format your controller understands. The DSP is the controller and will more than likely just take any vanilla G-code file so use say Mach3 or linux Cnc post processor in V carve. I don't use V carve so don't know the Post's it comes with as standard but I'd be amazed if it didn't have Mach3 post or some generic post.

"Oop" North Halifax is just stone throw away for me . . . Lol

Nthkentman
19-08-2014, 09:01 PM
Well I'll be staying at the Premier Inn at Brighouse on Sunday evening having grub and a beer with the missus before returning home Monday and praying that when I get this shebang home it all does what it says on the tin




Ye didn't mean it wasn't from E-mach but I'm confident they just badged up a Chinese import.

The post processing is done in CAM not at the controller IE: V carve and output in the format your controller understands. The DSP is the controller and will more than likely just take any vanilla G-code file so use say Mach3 or linux Cnc post processor in V carve. I don't use V carve so don't know the Post's it comes with as standard but I'd be amazed if it didn't have Mach3 post or some generic post.

"Oop" North Halifax is just stone throw away for me . . . Lol

Nthkentman
26-08-2014, 09:36 AM
Hi Jazz,

Well the beast is home and I've had a tinker. As you can see from other posts (and your replies) I'm on a steep re-learning curve again.
The controller "Pendant" is a RZTHNC-043XSI-080418 hand held device and appears to be (At the mo) sufficient for my needs.
Converting to Mach3 in the future may well be an option, but as I'm probably only machining simple profiles and engraving I may no need to yet.
At least the pendant manufacturer is still around, in China ! So I've asked if there is a better solution to the 30 available memory slots for designs to cut than I currently have, although it's not a huge issue to download them to the handset.
Once I get my head around the axis positioning and V Carve settings for tool height I'll be away (I Hope) so in advance I apologise for the newbie questions as the old grey matter is stirring on stuff I forgot many moons ago

JAZZCNC
26-08-2014, 12:44 PM
Hi Jazz,
The controller "Pendant" is a RZTHNC-043XSI-080418 hand held device and appears to be (At the mo) sufficient for my needs.
Converting to Mach3 in the future may well be an option, but as I'm probably only machining simple profiles and engraving I may no need to yet.
At least the pendant manufacturer is still around, in China !

If it does what you need then I'd leave well alone.
Mach is great but it's just like chisels, you'll have many chisels the same but one just feels better, that bit crisper, but all do the same job in the end.! . . . . . If it gives you blisters swap it.!