Finally bought a CNC router!

Although I'd hoped to make my first CNC router myself, moving house got in the way. Now I'm settled in my new home (Tasmania), I decided to buy a small eBay unit to get started.

This is the one I got - or will get once it's paid for and sent :tup:

There was some discussion on another forum about the quality of these units. The opinion seems to be that the electronics and software are crap but the mechanical components are worth the money. I've got a Gecko G540 spare and a copy of Mach 3 so I can replace as required.

I'm sure there are people here who have considered the eBay units so I'll update once I receive the unit and play with it a bit.

Regards
Geoff

Picked up router and so far have only unpacked it.
Seems pretty well made and I consider it value for money.

FYI, here's a link to the eBay item. It's actually quite a bit cheaper (shipping) than I paid for it a week ago.

yeeehaaaawww!!! nice one, you should be cutting things to bits in no time :)

the first time you press go on a bit of g-code is a quite a moment... i half exspected mine to jump up n cut my leg off :lol:

good luck dude :)

Geoff,
That's an awesome bit of kit even if the box is rubbish.
I think you would be struggling to build one for that price given it comes with high speed spindle and VFD ?

I have a Teckno-Isel router but it's only 300 x 300 working area and this looks to fit the bill ideally.

I'd be interested to see how accurate this is when you have it running.

John,
You're right about not being able to build one for that price. In fact the same unit got even cheaper this week when the seller slashed shipping cost by half ($US124 less than I paid). Add the continuing improvement in the $A vs $US and I would have saved a further $A150 buying this week :exclaim:

The controller is pretty basic - see photos . Fortunately I have a spare Gecko G540 controller and a 48v power supply so an upgrade is likely. I just need to find out some info on the steppers, the only marking is 57BYGH636

Never one to rush things...
Finally have a new place to live and the mandatory shed so got the CNC router assembled.
Sorting out Mach 3 and hope to test run it tomorrow. If all is well, it moves from the kitchen table t the shed for some cutting!

Well there were a few problems getting it to go. After much swearing and changing of configs in Mach 3, it turns out that it was a parallel port issue.
The controller interface requires 5 volts which it expects to get from the parallel port but my PC didn't provide the correct voltage/current.
Connected a separate 5 volt power supply to the interface and all was well.
There still tuning of the motors to do but that will have to wait, off on a sailing weekend tomorrow!

Nice looking! Water cooled spindle I see. Looks nice.
Tom

I'm about to buy one to integrate to EMC2. Thanks for the tip on ensuring you drive it with a full 5v. Any other tips please keep them coming.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by boldford

I'm about to buy one to integrate to EMC2. Thanks for the tip on ensuring you drive it with a full 5v. Any other tips please keep them coming.

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Quick tip, most modern motherboards only output typicaly 3.3v, very naughty, well below the spec. But these are home pcs trying to drive industrial electronics (they just don't make em like they used to unless you get an industrial pc (££££ss)!). So a lead length over a meter and your in trouble. RS232 looks for a threshold of 3v,, so they are is much more prone 2 the problem. True RS232 will work over 50 feet. With machine tools, router heads etc there is always noise so a good 5v is very important. In my experience 90% of problems are eventually traced to the power supply so best to look there first.
They look nice, like the ball screws! And very good value. I have a very old Isel, 20 years at least but significantly more cash and these look just as stiff. The bearings say chromed so I'd keep them clean if you intend to use any water based coolants at any time. Good luck with your nice toys, should give years of abuse!
Tom

Well the 5V supply for the parallel interface didn't fix all the problems. After a bit of cable swapping it turns out that one of the motor driver boards is faulty.
I can get a spare from Hong Kong for about $12 but it's $45 for postage:thumbdown: I've got a few gecko G250 boards that are currently unused so I'm going to substitute one of those instead, I just need to make up a PCB to mount it on. [I do have a Gecko G540 and I'm tempted to give it a try if it will get me cutting sooner!]
Mechanically, all axis move smoothly enough but I've know way of telling if the ball-nuts have any/enough grease in them. There's no grease nipples supplied and the construction will mean I'll have to almost completely disassemble each axis to grease it. At least the rails are easy to lubricate.
I still need to source a suitable aquarium pump for the spindle as the supplied non-submersible pump doesn't look as if it will last long.

If you bought it, use it as it is worth nothing sat there doing nothing?????????????????

My Isel is 25 years old and re greased it recently! Avoid car grease, it will spin off the screws and just fling everywhere (car bearings are relatively loose). I was lucky and got hold of a 2 litre pot of grease from work specifically for ball screws. You need a grease that is for high load applications because the balls in the bearing are probably pre loaded and you don't want the grease to squeeze out. Mine have no nipples, I just wiped the screws and ran them round a bit. A significant reduction in noise! I just looked it up though, ISOFLEX NBU15, and it's £48 for tiny a little tube!!!!!! I suppose I'd better take the "borrowed" tube back! There must be cheaper equivalents though I'm sure.
Tom