Thread: 6040 CNC questions

Hi Fred,

The carving-cnc.com site does give you a shipping price once you put an item in your shopping cart. I just did this and for shipping the model you quote to Victoria via DHL or UPS is $538.80.

Like others here, I bought mine from eBay, I used seller tool-zoom who currently has 0 items listed for sale. Mine weas well packed unlike others here who reported damage to their units.

Hi Fred,
I would buy through ebay as you then have Paypal buyer protection for all it is worth but it is better than a cold buy without protection.
I deal with a stepper motor supplier and they want Western Union plus fees paid before shipping - always nervous about those transactions.
I think the Chinese machines are very good value but expect some trouble and tweaking to get them going. I can't buy the individual components for their complete machine price.
Make sure you get ballscrews on all axes as some are trapezoidal screws.

The machine seems the part and as Rode stated, you cant buy the parts for the price of the machine. I would also ask if they supply a licensed version of Mach3, which is now USD$180 I think, otherwise your limited to 500 lines of code.

Also, 4th Axis probably only implies they will provide you with the driver board for the 4th axis, not the actual rotary unit. I dont see what driver boards they use, this would be another question i would ask, to ensure you can get replacements in a few years.

Check with them to see if they use a break out board in the system. This will allow you to aftermarket modify your unit if needed.

I dont anything on these units, thus why I have suggested these questions as a minimum

As Mike suggested, it probably uses an all in one driver board like Xylotex or similar.

Nothing wrong with that so long as you know it is about as minimal as you can go.

I would definitely go for the air cooled spindle option. I have had both and will never buy another water cooled one.

You will certainly end up spending quite a bit more on software and tooling. So keep that in mind.

Whatever you decide, I am in Geelong and would be happy to give any assistance that I can.

Greg

Originally Posted by rodm

Hi Fred,
I would buy through ebay as you then have Paypal buyer protection for all it is worth but it is better than a cold buy without protection.

Make sure you get ballscrews on all axes as some are trapezoidal screws.

Thanks Rod, this seller does offer Paypal as a payment method, so should be OK as far as that is concerned.

I'll investigate the ballscrews question.

Originally Posted by seafurymike

The machine seems the part and as Rode stated, you cant buy the parts for the price of the machine. I would also ask if they supply a licensed version of Mach3, which is now USD$180 I think, otherwise your limited to 500 lines of code.

Also, 4th Axis probably only implies they will provide you with the driver board for the 4th axis, not the actual rotary unit. I dont see what driver boards they use, this would be another question i would ask, to ensure you can get replacements in a few years.

Check with them to see if they use a break out board in the system. This will allow you to aftermarket modify your unit if needed.

I dont anything on these units, thus why I have suggested these questions as a minimum

Will try and get answers to these quesions as well, as I understand it the additional $180 includes the 4th axis rotary unit, but will ask to make sure.

Will also ask about the breakout booard.

Originally Posted by Greolt

As Mike suggested, it probably uses an all in one driver board like Xylotex or similar.

Nothing wrong with that so long as you know it is about as minimal as you can go.

I would definitely go for the air cooled spindle option. I have had both and will never buy another water cooled one.

You will certainly end up spending quite a bit more on software and tooling. So keep that in mind.

Whatever you decide, I am in Geelong and would be happy to give any assistance that I can.

Greg

Thanks Greg, that is very kind of you and Geelong is not that far down the road

Yes, the overall cost is a bit of an unknown at the moment and needs to be nailed down a bit more before I finally commit.

As I've mentioned to Mr Shed in a PM, my concern with Carving CNC was that the costs of importing start to add up. While the machine, 4th axis and freight come to about $2,200, you're looking at another $350 or so in GST, duty & processing fees.

The thing I find annoying is that all these Ebay sellers come across as shonky used car salesmen. This whole CNC scene on Ebay is more reminiscent of a Middle Eastern Bazaar and doesn't give one a whole lot of confidence.

From the absurd seller names to the ridiculous pricing, from massively inflated shipping charges to "Free" shipping, when you add them together they only vary by a few dollars.

If these people treat their prospective customers like fools, how are you ever going to get decent after sales support?

That was one of the reasons the Carving-CNC site impressed me a bit more, but maybe behind the "respectable" facade it is just another hole in the wall operation like most of the Ebay sellers of CNC machines appear to be.

These Chinese Ebay sellers have difficulty distinguishing between the truth and porkies.

Received a mobile phone holder today that I ordered on 13/6, seller marked it posted 14/6, I queried him 2 days ago and he fimrly confirmed it was indeed posted on 14/6. Arrived today 13/7, parcel postmarked 26/6, ie almost 2 weeks after he said he posted it.

Phew, feel better now

Something I'm sure you've noticed is that some of the sellers claim to ship from Australia/US/UK. The shipping price is the same as for shipping from China as is the shipping time!

I queried one of these sellers recently asking how postage from (I think )Sydney could possibly cost the same as postage from China. After a couple of to and fro emails, he admitted is was actually shipped from China. I did report it to eBay but never got any response from them.

Originally Posted by snowyskiesau

Something I'm sure you've noticed is that some of the sellers claim to ship from Australia/US/UK. The shipping price is the same as for shipping from China as is the shipping time!

I queried one of these sellers recently asking how postage from (I think )Sydney could possibly cost the same as postage from China. After a couple of to and fro emails, he admitted is was actually shipped from China. I did report it to eBay but never got any response from them.

Yes Geoff, meant to touch on that aspect as well. I am amazed that Ebay allows all these shenanigans.
It certainly detracts from the whole experience, how can you can you have confidence in buying something from people that tell bare faced lies to your face
Every time I have worked up the will to finally get a CNC I get presented with all this bull-crap and every time I finish up walking away from it.
Hopefully this time I will actually make a decision, but boy they make it difficult and very unpleasant.

Another area where this is happening, and I'm sure there are others, is with VFDs.

They seem to ship from all over the world too, there must be places in China especially created to ship Ebay items from, London, Sydney, New York - all in China.

Come to think of it, that's probably where all the spammers live

Originally Posted by Big Shed

That was one of the reasons the Carving-CNC site impressed me a bit more, but maybe behind the "respectable" facade it is just another hole in the wall operation like most of the Ebay sellers of CNC machines appear to be.

In that respect, yes, Carving-CNC seem to be a bit more legitimate, and were quite responsive to emails - including providing a reference in the form of a recent Australian customer I could contact and discuss their experience.

With regard to the Ebay sellers, yes, the total price is pretty much the same from all of them, and yes, they imply they're somehow local when it's blatantly obvious they're not, but it seems plenty of people have bought machines from them with reasonable (if varying) levels of satisfaction.

Fred I'm looking at getting one from the same place with the 4th axis in the next few weeks. Will be keen to see how you go.
David

I found Carving-CNC pretty quick to respond and quite helpful when I was asking about a replacement controller board for my 6040.

I've looked at their 4th axis quite a few times ...

I have sent off a list of questions as raised above, so will see what response I get and report back here.

Geoff, the only reservation I have about the 4th axis, justified or not, is that it uses a belt drive rather than direct drive. Don't know whether that would affect accuracy?

Decided to do some checking on CNCZone

This was the first thread that came up in my search, not an auspicious start:

Experience with carving-cnc.com 6040 router - CNCzone.com-The Largest Machinist Community on the net!