Thinking of buying one of these little things

[JAZZCNC]

You're right, instead I should have spent 3 years of evenings spec'ing sourcing & building. Some of the self build threads on here extend back to when Elvis could still visit the toilet without issue. Show me anywhere on the planet (webpage) you can buy a new machine with a similar spec.

Rubbish it's down to the individual how long it takes. Some have built perfectly good machines in less than a month.

I think you are still missing the point...ok, so you eat sleep breathe CNC machines, some folks just want to mill a pcb or a bit of acylic (it's akin to someone going into a car showroom asking about a ford fiesta for the school run & the salesman saying "pah, that thing won't carry girders, what you need is this Hummer")..& some folks don't want to spend yonks stroking their chin with a furrowed brow....I still reckon buying secondhand is viable - i.e. buy a modest secondhand cnc machine for £500...use it, sell it for £500....cost of ownership = £0 (re the machine I bought ...it's the most cost effective £500 I'll ever spend & for it's purpose - and as it whirrs its merry little way milling a pcb out, not once have I thought "Damn, if only I'd listened to those on mycncuk")

Yes your correct I do breath and live CNC but your wrong that I miss the point. I fully get the point of what your saying and it's with much experience thru helping many 100's of dissapointed people who have taken your penny pinching route that I speak.
These machines are great learning machines.! . . They learn you that operating a small CNC doesn't take long to learn. They also learn that you just wasted £500 + on a tool that is limited to scratching tin foil or icing cakes.!! . . . . There's a big difference between scratching and cutting correctly.

Cost of owner ship is more than the machine it's self, wasted time, wasted tools, wasted material, wasted hair all come into the equation. These machines by there very design (ie Weak and slow) can not avoid wasting time and tools.
They are so poorly built using cheap components that they are limited in the feeds they can achieve. This means at best they may just meet the requirements for correct feed rates so that tools don't wear prematurely. But In majority of cases they can't reach any where near whats required so tools wear out very quickly shortening tool life.
Tool wear leads to tool breakage so wasted time, material and tool are the outcome. Often it's blamed on being new and put down to learning.
Fact is It's not all down to this and mostly down to the fact the machine can't reach the correct feed rates where tool isn't stressed.!

Those that can are constantly operating at there maximum capabiltys which wears the cheap nasty bearings etc. So machine quickly becomes sloppy and baggy. This causes lock ups etc in short order with resulting hair pulling sessions.
And I won't even go into the Junk electronics.!!

(perhaps the CNC genre around these parts is a bit like a career in deep sea diving ...you start at the top & work your way down?)

No your start at the top and never look back thinking WTF did I buy that pile shite.!!!

[HankMcSpank]

. And I won't even go into the Junk electronics.!!

Aside from the CNC machine frame, my modest £500 outlay also got me a control box, with these bits & bobs inside (not the VFD, it was barfed & removed)...



So not all chinese sourced machines aren't built equal.

I can see the salient point here isn't getting across, not everyone has time to either research or build a machine & not everyone wants to mill metals. A secondhand machine can still perform just fine within its boundaries & yield great results (i.e. I'm a happy user) ...and even if it doesn't, you simply sell it on to some other sucker & blame mycncuk for not warning you about the shite on the market ....no loss! :-)

if you are very keen & knowledgeable on hammers, then everything begins to look like a nail, but it's horses for courses blah blah

Now then about that Hummer you've got for sale...can I park it ok at the local Lidl?

[JAZZCNC]

Aside from the machine frame, my £500 also got me a control box, with these bits & bobs inside (not the VFD, it was barfed & removed)...

So not all chinese derived machines are built equal.

So what do you think you have there that is so special.? . . . .I've replaced blown Moon SR drives in 3 separate machines this year.!! Oh and 2 of the shity BOB's they tend to put with them.!!

Point is not all about building. It's about buying something that is fit for purpose. Be that new or secondhand. Most buy these machines with the purpose of cutting multi materials, Woods, plastics, etc and they can't even do that correctly without stressing the machine. Anything that is constantly stressed cracks sooner rather than later and these machines at best are more stressed than Air traffic controller.!

But I see we'll just have to agree to disagree and let the good folks take there own route. Hopefully they'll listen to experience and make use of it.

[cropwell]

I had a look at the website for this piece of plastic and couldn't find a contact address or number. If I were spending £500 on anything, I would like to know where they are. I agree that the machine does not represent a wise investment, but there again neither did my MD A4 trapezoidal, but after a lot of fettling and modification, it will cut straight lines, rectangles are yet to be sorted.

There's an awful lot of machines on the market and a lot of awful machines too. I wonder if any of these V-groove skateboard based producers would be willing to put forward one of their offerings for test and critical review ? I suspect not

[Boyan Silyavski]

There's an awful lot of machines on the market and a lot of awful machines too. I wonder if any of these V-groove skateboard based producers would be willing to put forward one of their offerings for test and critical review ? I suspect not

I have that, payed a lot of money at the time, cause i did not know a sh*t about Cncs and there were no sincere guys like me and Dean at that time at the zone. So when i asked people for opinions, all said its great. I bought it and what a crap... Nevertheless i managed to pay it and still making money. Cause i am clever, not that the machine is good.`
So yeah, i know first hand what crap is and what foul marketing is.`

Plus i think most of you guys are totally mistaken about CNCs . People think that buying crap machines is learning and "having the opportunity to do sth at home" . No. Its not like that. HAAS and similar are real machines, and the best builds you have seen around is having the opportunity to learn and try at home level.

[Clive S]

but there again neither did my MD A4 trapezoidal, but after a lot of fettling and modification, it will cut straight lines, rectangles are yet to be sorted

This has to be quote of the week ..Clive

[HankMcSpank]

But I see we'll just have to agree to disagree and let the good folks take there own route. Hopefully they'll listen to experience and make use of it.

Totally agree...that's what a forum is all about - sharing experience/experiences ...& I am therefore glad to report an enjoyable experience buying a secondhand CNC machine that performed over & above what was expected - it didn't explode, didn't (discernibly!) wobble/vibrate, circles came out as circles, which was in use within days of 'clicking' the buy button & no spaghetti were harmed ...and perhaps just as importantly, should I ever wish to sell it (though I can't imagine why), because it was bought used (& will be sold used) no spondoots will be lost down the back of the very annoying & hungry CNC sofa!!

(incidentally, I wasn't saying my machine's electronics were special, but simply to illustrate that not all machines are supplied with totally woeful electronics ...that's why I reckon some should look for a secondhand machine with a reasonable spec to meet their needs)

They also learn that you just wasted £500 + on a tool that is limited to scratching tin foil or icing cakes.!!

Pending my Great British bake off application being approved, I'm waiting on the final version of this, but alas, it'll surely cost me more than £500....

http://www.tinyurl.com/oflyau9 (forum member Clanzer's website, who churns out many CNC products, for example ... http://www.ukcnc.info/forums/2012cncmachine.php)

[JAZZCNC]

Totally agree...that's what a forum is all about - sharing experience/experiences ...& I am therefore glad to report an enjoyable experience buying a secondhand CNC machine that performed over & above what was expected - it didn't explode, didn't (discernibly!) wobble/vibrate, circles came out as circles,

I rest my case ma Lord.!!! . . . . .http://www.mycncuk.com/threads/8722-...9378#post69378