Which cnc

[Jonathan]

Now throw in all the mounting hardware, driver, building up etc and that £250 is no where near.

I did say very roughly. From eBay a 1500mm ballscrew with the bearing mounts is £115 but he's using a rotating nut so the bearings will be more expensive - call it £160. One additional 3Nm motor and 80V driver is £75 max. Better PSU needed, another £15 to supply the extra motor. Another two pulleys and a belt, £15. That's 160+75+15+15=£265 so I think very roughly £250 was a reasonable statement as clearly I wasn't including labour.

Presumably Jonathon you are paying business rates on that 100' x 80' shed in your back garden just as you are reporting everything you earn to the revenue ?

I might not pay revenue but I do pay VAT.

It's a no win situation, buy Chinese and it's crap no matter what level you buy at, buy British and you are getting ripped off and attacked by the garden shed brigade wanting to buy everything for nothing but sell their product at high prices.

Who said anything about charging a high price? Imo the prices charged in the CNC industry are usually extortionate. I try to lead by example by charging around £6-£7 per hour for time. My objective is education, interest and not making a loss, not looking after other people's profits.

Why not ask them how much to add a second ballscrew? They might say it's too much work to change the design, but it can't hurt to ask.

Also in the listing there is far less information than there should be. It doesn't look like any of the pictures have the actual machine that listing is selling - the AR1200. Some of the bigger ones have vacumm bed and other nice things, you can bet that costs more.

[Musht]

Quick google brings up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAnYg...hannel&list=UL

Cheers
Adam

[Jonathan]

Quick google brings up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAnYg...hannel&list=UL

Cheers
Adam

Well at least it's got two motors on the X-axis, but if that's what you get for £5k I take back what I said about it being worth a look. The machine in that video has lost most of the good things from the ones in the eBay listings. It uses supported round rails and worse small unsupported rails on the Z-axis badly orientated, plus the spacings between the bearings looks small. Rack and pinion not ballscrew, router not a proper spindle...

These are all things you should look for - profile rails (generally Hiwin is used), ballscrews on all axes (no need for rack on such a small machine), proper spindle not a router. Once mounted properly supported round rails aren't too bad, but since you're willing to spend £4k ish you should be able to get profile rails which will increase the rigidity which is the among the most important aspects of the machine.

The title of their other video of that machine says it all really - Low cost CNC Router, not 'High quality CNC Router'. The video shows the machine cutting pretty fast (due to the rack and pinion), but what about important things like resolution and surface finish? Not a clue from their video which is why you need to go and see it cutting.

[John S]

I might not pay revenue but I do pay VAT.



Who said anything about charging a high price? Imo the prices charged in the CNC industry are usually extortionate. I try to lead by example by charging around £6-£7 per hour for time. My objective is education, interest and not making a loss, not looking after other people's profits.

So you pay VAT on the £6 -£7 per hour you charge then ?

I have no objection with what has been said about the ballscrew just how costing is worked out.
You are working out of a shed that mummy and daddy are paying all the expenses for and you are trying to tell registered business's how to do their job ?

[Jonathan]

So you pay VAT on the £6 -£7 per hour you charge then ?

VAT is a tax levied on goods and services. I pay VAT on the things I buy, which a business may not have to. Surely I do not qualify for VAT because:

'When you must register for VAT:
Your turnover for the previous 12 months has gone over a specific limit - called the 'VAT threshold' (currently £77000)'

Plus it says I don't pay income tax below £2710, so that doesn't apply to me or many of the 'garden shed brigade'.

You are working out of a shed that mummy and daddy are paying all the expenses for and you are trying to tell registered business's how to do their job ?

Please don't jump to conclusions, sadly that is no longer the case.

[Jonathan]

No prices on the site, so probably too expensive, but this has all the features I mentioned:

http://www.maxicamglobal-cnc.com/MAXI-S%201224.html

[JAZZCNC]

VAT is a tax levied on goods and services. I pay VAT on the things I buy, which a business may not have to. Surely I do not qualify for VAT because:

'When you must register for VAT:
Your turnover for the previous 12 months has gone over a specific limit - called the 'VAT threshold' (currently £77000)'

Plus it says I don't pay income tax below £2710, so that doesn't apply to me or many of the 'garden shed brigade'.

Nope any business pays Vat just the same has you, diference being they can claim it back. . . BUT they must then charge VAT on any labour or product sold. . . .Either way the Customs and excise want there cut.!! . . . . Mess with them and they bite hard.!!

So if your so sure then get intouch with Inland revenue and tell them all your undeclared earnings, I'm sure they won't mind you not paying tax on your £7 hourly rate because your working out the shed.!!

Being self employed I see John S point completely regards costings and UK business pricing. I'm also one of the first to condem Uk business's for ripping UK buyers off but in this instance I don't think this company is doing that if the machine turns out to be all that it's made to appear.? . . . Thou I do suspect that won't be the case.!!

Oh and the machine in the U-tube video was actually using belt drive not R&P.!!

[Jonathan]

Oh and the machine in the U-tube video was actually using belt drive not R&P.!!

Fair enough, I was wrong - it is belt driven. That makes it worse, so lets hope it's ballscrews for the five grand.

[John S]

What are you smoking ?

The whole conversation started off on fitting an extra ballscrew, clearly says in the ebay advert ballscrew with rotating nut.

I don't know why i bother, I don't have an axe to grind or anything to sell. It just gets repeatedly tiresome pushing fooking prams out of the way all the while.

[JAZZCNC]

Fair enough, I was wrong - it is belt driven. That makes it worse, so lets hope it's ballscrews for the five grand.

Not really.!! Belt drive is far more accurate than R&P unless high quality precision ground which is expensive so defeats the point when building a cheap machine.

But yes for 5K I wouldn't expect or want either.!! . . . I actually suspected the original Ebay machine used R&P on the Y axis has I couldn't see any signs of motors or screws but now I'm thinking it may use belt drive but again either isn't good enough at 5K.!