Quote Originally Posted by richie00boy View Post
What size do you need? I got a 3020 machine off ebay for much the same things as you have said there and it's OK for the low cost.
thanks for the reply. sorry for my very slow reply indeed. these Chinese machines look interesting. they look solidly made and are cheaper than similar looking offerings. actually I only require to make small items, the size of the 3020 would probably be fine. is it okay with only one stepper on the gantry? when you got it from ebay what about vat and import duties. who do you talk to if there is a problem.

I have also come across other means of controlling cnc machines - use of embedded microcontroller with g-code interpreters. one that looks good was smoothie project running on an ARM microcontroller. it seems to make sense that an external controller does the work since it likely to be more real time than a PC. can a chassis+motors+spindle be sought and then add the motor controller, embedded/usb controller?