6040 CNC anyone bought one and recommened sellers :)

[Rye]

I bought a 6040 with a 1.5k ER11 spindle, black box (not the blue one) with a SMC 4-4-16a16b fitted(no need to connect to a PC.) It cuts plastics and both soft and hardwood easily. It also cuts aluminium reasonably well. That said, I've had a few problems with mine: limit switches breaking, limit switch wires breaking, a screeching y axis(caused by bolts under the bed coming loose) and bits n pieces coming loose on the z gantry. The pump switch in the box has also stopped working. And the pump that came with the machine could wake the dead.

If I knew what I know now, and if it wasn't for my poor health and money problems(something always crops up making me dip into my savings), I'd replace the machine in a snap. All that aside though, I do enjoy using the machine. It's not that bad TBH (it's like a bridge camera pretending to be a DSLR). If you do buy one, I'd look around. For that sort of money you may get one with a 1.5k WC spindle.

[Fivetide]

(it's like a bridge camera pretending to be a DSLR). If you do buy one, I'd look around. For that sort of money you may get one with a 1.5k WC spindle.

Totally agree , I don't do serious stuff. Though if I can make enough money with things that its capable of making (with a little post work) and save up enough money, I would buy a decent one in a heart beat.

[davies46]

I bought one over Christmas, 6040 with:

• old-style (blue box) parallel port controller (24v PSU and TB5650s on a card)
• 800w air cooled motor
• Huanyang 1.5kW VFD spindle controller

It was the bare minimum that you could call a CNC router, no limit switches and kept missing steps on anything faster than a crawl. I replace the controller with

• GRBL on Arduino Uno
• TB6600s
• 36v PSU
• Some limit switches NO and series wired as pairs for X, Y, Z

Which I would call a marginal upgrade - I wanted the 6600s to take the extra voltage of the 36v PSU. I used bCNC to pump the G-Codes.

Than I milled some stuff: first some air, then some polystyrene, then some MDF (a spoilboard then a dust boot), then some phenol plastic.

Not bad results, quite impressed with what you got for the money TBF.

I was building up to milling aluminium (I also have a 1.5kW spindle waiting in the wings) but accidentally milled the top off a steel bolt (holding down my spoilboard) and by the time I hit the Big Red it had made a pretty good job of carving a slot in the bolt head. So now I'm not so scared of trying that aluminium

So yeah, with perhaps a few cheap mods (TB660s @ £6.50 a pop etc.) I'd say I'm well pleased with it so far!

-Phil