3018 3 Axis Mini DIY CNC Router ONLY £125 with free shipping !!!

Just found this for another member and thought I would share it with everyone else:

I think generally any of the 30xx machines are ok to use as a learning platform, if users keep things real in terms of what they should expect from these machines it can be a win win situation.

Engraving copper shouldn't be a problem as its quite a light task to do, for engraving from what I've seen, spindle speed set at around the 10,000rpm mark seems to work well.

Have you seen this offer, there is 50% off at the moment, free shipping and at only £125 it seems ridiculously cheap not to get one to play around with !

Sale Link: 3018 3 Axis Mini DIY CNC Router Standard Spindle Motor Wood Engraving Machine Milling Engraver

Here is a review video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hB4Cvbtu-lA

Would you think that a machine like this would be accurate enough to mark-out the centres of where holes are to be drilled in making Gantry side-plates?

Sorry but it's like buying a kite to learn basics of flying.

You need a proper mini mill at least to learn basics of machining. I wouldn't spend a single $ on a stuff like that. Also if you want a laser, buy a laser. All you say is a recipe for wasting money.

You can potentially get 6% cashback with topcashback too.

I think it's worth noting that they say:
"Engrave Wood, Plastic, Acrylic, PCB, or Similar Material
Can Not Engrave Metal, Steel, Aluminum."
So they're honest about its capability, or lack of it.

These things will engrave metal including stainless you just have to go at it slowly. From my research there is a huge variety of CNC3018-Pro machines out there with differing control boards being the difference.
Some have later driver chips on with a finer resolution, some appear tohave the row of pins A1 etc on the bottom disabled which is not helpful if you want to use a Z axis mapping function.
For that reason I shall probably be buying the Sainsmart one which although a little more expensive has the latest iterations of components and supposedly reasonable customer support.

I bought one of these machines about a year ago because for years I've had alsorts of ideas about building my own design router but didn't get anywhere past dreaming as I have little electronic knowledge. It is a great training tool, it's modular so it's cutting areas can be tailored to what you want within reason by buying longer extrusions and screws.
I only use it for light work such as cutting depron and balsa wood.

I now feel confident enough to start building a much more substantial moving gantry router.

I rigged up a brushless spindle for the router, photo attached. This was made to fit in the original mount. Mk2 will have pillow blocks rather than the flanged bearings of Mk1.
A torque arm stops the motor from spinning.Attachment 26819

I bought the 1610 version about 2 years ago and paid more than that. Purchased for making circuit boards, I had a lot of issues to start with, but after fitting a third different motor, it suddenly got a lot quieter and worked brilliantly. On closer inspection, it turned out the two previous motors were not running 100% true. I observed when using a small cutter that rather than cutting central, it was cutting circles. A piece of MDF bolted to the bed and flashed off level has also helped a lot. Sticking the board with double sided tape works a lot better than clamping the edges too.

I considered getting a bigger one, as I seem to be making bigger and bigger circuit boards and I am really struggling to get some circuits onto the bed, to the extend I am having to make two boards and link them together. However, I had the bright idea this week of extending the Y axis and fitting a larger bed at 90 degrees to the original which fits through the back of the frame. The plan is to use the existing bed, but bolt some 18mm MDF to the top of it, replacing the 2020 extrusion that extends to the front with two lengths at 460mm, the linear rods replaced with 500mm and the leadscrew with 500mm. I've done the frame and linear rods, just waiting on the longer leadscrew and MDF.