round rails

[TrickyCNC]

I mostly agree, except on the definition of 'better'. If you just don't have the budget **, then the 'better' (more expensive) material, just wont do :)
I just felt wood was getting a bashing on this forum - without any real reason , and wanted to make the case for it. it seems to have worked a little bit, so I am happy to have done that .


EDIT> ** or means to work with it

[TrickyCNC]

Jonathon ... keep it REAL - not theory !

[martin54]

Being completely new to this I have no opinion on what is the best material to use to construct a machine as I simply haven't done enough research to be able to form a reasonable opinion yet but if you were to ask me which of the 3 main materials I would prefer to use then I guess the answer would have to be wood followed by aluminium & steel would come last.
This is based purely on the equipment I have personally & my own experience working with each of them. Sure everyone is different but personally I have the most experience working with steel but have next to no equipment I would be happy using to construct a machine from steel. When it comes to using wood I have the equipment I need & am confident using plus enough knowledge to be able to go ahead with a build. Aluminium falls somewhere in the middle as far as knowledge goes but not 100% sure about equipment & the price is high compared with the other 2 but I still feel I could do a better job with aluminium that steel.

[martin54]

Regards buying from china then yes there's good and bad, but that holds true for lots of country's this one included.!
If you want a recommended supplier one that I've dealt with for years and bought £1000's worth and sent literally hundreds of people to then Chai @ linearmotionbearings is your man

Can't argue with that Jazz but at least if you have problems with a UK supplier then it's easier to try & get hold of them plus it is generally easier to get after sales support from a uk supplier. Before I spend a lot of money with any supplier I generally look around & speak to other people who have dealt with them if I can plus it's easy enough for me to give them a ring myself & ask any questions I may have. Will have a look at the supplier you mentioned thanks, having looked at the prices from a couple of Chinese sellers I can see what you mean by the difference in price not being huge. Couldn't find anything close to those sort of prices from suppliers in the UK.

[TrickyCNC]

Anyone getting stung with import duties and the like, from these chinese sellers ?

[JAZZCNC]

Anyone getting stung with import duties and the like, from these chinese sellers ?

No Only extra is VAT which is based off the price put on the paper work and often they fill it out low so low Vat charge and a rip-off Admin fee by UK courier usually around £10.

[JoeHarris]

I know I'm a bit late to add my 2p worth but I started out and more or less completely drew up an mdf machine before I started reading threads on this site and I think the wood bashing is very justified! Even on a tight budget steel Ali and 'proper' bearings make sense. I got change from £30 for 1500mm sbr20 rails from china - by the time you have bought Ali angles and skate bearings you have spent that... For a comparably rubbish set up. To me it's a no brainer!

[martin54]

I know I'm a bit late to add my 2p worth but I started out and more or less completely drew up an mdf machine before I started reading threads on this site and I think the wood bashing is very justified! Even on a tight budget steel Ali and 'proper' bearings make sense. I got change from £30 for 1500mm sbr20 rails from china - by the time you have bought Ali angles and skate bearings you have spent that... For a comparably rubbish set up. To me it's a no brainer!

Not quite sure where you shop Joe but it cost me about 30 squid for the ally & bearings for all 3 axis on a 4' x 2' MDF machine. For what you spent on your rails I bought everything needed to build the machine & had enough change for a fish supper or two. Excluding the electronics of course which pushed the cost of the machine through the roof by comparison.

Depends what you want to do with it really but the total cost of the machine worked out to about £600. I know a guy that has been using one for about 9 months now & thinks it's great, does everything he needs it to without problems. OK it's not used on a regular basis & it's not used for any heavy cutting which would be beyond it's capabilities but it's OK for what he needs.

Only reason I changed my mind was because I wanted to be able to cut materials that the MDF machine wouldn't be able to cope with.

[JoeHarris]

Not quite sure where you shop Joe but it cost me about 30 squid for the ally & bearings for all 3 axis on a 4' x 2' MDF machine. For what you spent on your rails I bought everything needed to build the machine & had enough change for a fish supper or two. Excluding the electronics of course which pushed the cost of the machine through the roof by comparison.

Depends what you want to do with it really but the total cost of the machine worked out to about £600. I know a guy that has been using one for about 9 months now & thinks it's great, does everything he needs it to without problems. OK it's not used on a regular basis & it's not used for any heavy cutting which would be beyond it's capabilities but it's OK for what he needs.

Only reason I changed my mind was because I wanted to be able to cut materials that the MDF machine wouldn't be able to cope with.

Fair played and he has a machine which is more than I can say for now. Just glad I looked on here before I started building in mdf...

[martin54]

Yer I'm not saying your wrong, in fact I did the same as you only got a lot further before I found the forum. I am finishing the machine off now as I have been told by people on here that it would be best to do that now, just had to make sure the electronics I bought could be migrated to another build when I found out the MDF machine couldn't do half the things I want it to. lol