Newbie needs CNC advice

[Jacks]

Hi Guys
Totally new to CNC we are looking for a reasonable priced desk top CNC machine for routing text etc into MDF, plastic and HDPE etc. Wanting to engrave pen boxes and ideally maybe even the pens themselves. Is anyone able to offer any advice on a suitable machine and costs etc. Ideally running on imac or ipads as we dont have a PC. We do have an old laptop stashed away running on windows xp. We started looking at the DIY ones on Amazon and noticed some for £500 mark from Germany.
Cheers Jacks

[JAZZCNC]

The Cheap Chinese machines are waste of money and will give you more trouble than worth. They won't do what you want correctly or very well. Unfortunately I can't offer any alternative at the price level your looking.

Regards running on i-mac then you'll struggle. Best option is to buy cheap second hand PC, you'll pick one up for £50.

[Jacks]

Cheers thanks Jazz

[Bucks]

Hope this doesn't confuse things but I'm Mr Jacks lol

Would the laptop be ok, if we disable the power saving functions & had it plugged into the mains rather than battery power?

Price isn't set in stone Ideally looking to spend £500 to £1000, certainly not thousands though.

[terry1956]

Hi. I know someone who uses a laptop for his cnc control so you may be ok if you turn off power save etc.but an old pc is better if you are running Xp,Windows 7 using the parallel cable. Ethernet breakout boards are outside your price band. As to which machine,big question. For fine detail you need good signals,and that means Ethernet smooth stepper boards which would give you better cutting detail on Smaller items like your pens.but Ethernet boards cost a lot more and in some cases also need a breakout board also.you will need the software motors etc. Your best bet is to look on eBay for a up and running machine with cnc etc. Two sieg sx2 cnc mini mills have been sold on eBay this past week for sub 600 pounds.

[Bucks]

THANKS for the info John,
Did a quick google & Ebay search foer Ethernet CNC & it just came up with boards etc, so are these upgrades for a the parallel port machines? I was origional looking at this https://www.amazon.co.uk/HPcutter-Ma...2BMachine&th=1

Do you have any links to suitable/quality new machines, I realise It looks like we'll have be paying more than our origional budget (story of my life) but if these Ethernet boards etc are upgrades? I am hoping to start off with a quality Machine then add upgrades as & when needed as our CNC experiance grows!

[paulus.v]

Would the laptop be ok, if we disable the power saving functions & had it plugged into the mains rather than battery power?

The laptop is a problem if you are using the parallel port to control the CNC. For USB or ethernet controllers it is fine.

[Jacks]

My Hubbies posts are going to admin before posting he wrote,

THANKS for the info John,
Did a quick google & Ebay search foer Ethernet CNC & it just came up with boards etc, so are these upgrades for a the parallel port machines? I was origional looking at this https://www.amazon.co.uk/HPcutter-Ma...2BMachine&th=1

Do you have any links to suitable/quality new machines, I realise It looks like we'll have be paying more than our origional budget (story of my life) but if these Ethernet boards etc are upgrades? I am hoping to start off with a quality Machine then add upgrades as & when needed as our CNC experiance grows!

[Jacks]

The laptop is a problem if you are using the parallel port to control the CNC. For USB or ethernet controllers it is fine.

If hes right about these usb & ethernet boards being upgrades, could we start off with a decent machine upgrade the controllers later?

[Steel]

Hope this doesn't confuse things but I'm Mr Jacks lol

Would the laptop be ok, if we disable the power saving functions & had it plugged into the mains rather than battery power?

Price isn't set in stone Ideally looking to spend £500 to £1000, certainly not thousands though.

Mr Jacks what work area size do you need ?
Laptops are ok with parallel ports but some wont drive the mach3 software at the right frequency so you can download a program to your laptop that should fix the issue, just set the program to run at start up and you wont need to start it each time, its called rightmark cpu. just check the "run HLT command when os is idle" box under management that should be the only setting you need to make

Chinese machines like the 3020 or 3040 and 6040 are good machines some may have loose bearings but there around 25 pd for a pair of x axis bearings if you need them. Again work area size is whats important just make sure whatever you buy or build you can fit your work piece