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

[Lee Roberts]

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:

[AndyGuid]

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?

[Boyan Silyavski]

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.

[asbo]

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.

[Lol999]

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.

[ChrisG]

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.