Thread: Chinese Machines now on Ebay

I'm sure there was a thread on these machines over on cnczone.com recently (before Christmas) but I can't find it.
From memory, the opinion was that they were basically OK but needed a bit of tweaking. For that price, I'd be willing to tweak quite a bit.

[If you go to the eBay seller's store, the first item in the list is a liposuction machine. Nothing like a bit of diversification !]

Originally Posted by snowyskiesau

I'm sure there was a thread on these machines over on cnczone.com recently (before Christmas) but I can't find it.
From memory, the opinion was that they were basically OK but needed a bit of tweaking. For that price, I'd be willing to tweak quite a bit.

[If you go to the eBay seller's store, the first item in the list is a liposuction machine. Nothing like a bit of diversification !]

I don't go to CNCZone much anymore as the adds have killed the loading of pages. There are just too many adds and it is painfull navigating so it defeats the purpose. More adds for revenue but driving users away due to slow page loading.

Gee I thought everybody had a liposuction machine in their shed.

Originally Posted by rodm

I don't go to CNCZone much anymore as the adds have killed the loading of pages. There are just too many adds and it is painfull navigating so it defeats the purpose. More adds for revenue but driving users away due to slow page loading.

Install Ad Block + in your Firefox browser, highly recommended.
There was a thread recently on one of the other machining forums where people were complaining loudly about performance. I had to turn off Ad Block to see what they were talking about as it worked find for me.

cnczone do need to reduce or consolidate some of their forums, there are far too many.

They look pretty good for their price. A nice intro machine for those that are a bit daunted about building their own.

Just be weary as i think these may require customs tax as they are imported... not sure, just need to check otherwise i'm with you, there is no way to get the parts for less than that.

Daniel

Hi all,

Well until yesterday, I knew nothing about CNC machines.

I make pens and boomerangs normally. I was asking the pen guys about laser engravers, and someone mentioned I should look at CNC machines instead. So I jumped on to eBay (as you do) to see what your starting budget needs to be, and I saw one of the machines mentioned here. I also saw a smaller 4-axis version (NEW 4 AXIS CNC ROUTER ENGRAVER MACHINE PCB'S ROUTING a | eBay) which I thought might be better for engraving pens.

I was wondering if anyone can comment on the ability of any of these to

1. Engrave pens
2. Carve airfoils on plywood boomerangs
3. Cut acrylic sheeting
4. Create small items like chess pieces

What's the dangers for a CNC newbie buying a cheap chinese machine, apart from the obvious of no local support?

Thanks. Russell.

Hi Russell, I now have a couple of friends with machines like the one you linked and here is my 2c...

The machines themselves are not too bad, they seem reasonably rigid and the ones with ballscrews and linear rails are pretty decent mechanically.

The letdown parts for me are the electronics and manuals, or more to the point the lack of manuals or any kind of legible instructions.

If it were me buying one of these, I would ask if I could get the machine with steppers installed but no electronics, possibly reducing the price. Also I would think of replacing the spindle, the ones with the flexible drives seem pretty dodgy, the others may be OK, we are still getting to that stage.

Apart from that if you are prepared to do some tweaking they would most likely do everything you need, at the moment I am replacing the electronics on my friends machine with some Gecko's and I expect it to make a huge difference. The existing drives made the steppers growl and miss steps, even with the motor removed from the machine and totally unloaded.

It is still a work in progress so I can let you know how it goes, should know in a week or two.

The 4th axis actually looks pretty sweet, I am thinking of trying to buy one by itself one day.

Cheers.

Russell.

I checked out all the chinese cnc's on ebay and read many different posts on the good, bad and the ugly of them all, I started looking around at all the others on offer around the world, nearly went with a K2 machine when I came across a post on Romaxx machines out of Michigan, after much deliberation and online searching I went with the WD-1, I have only had it for a couple of weeks, still doing some basic patterns and penciling guitar bodies, first real cut to come tomorrow. They do a 24" x 16" machine called the HS-1 for $2490.00, with the strength of the Aussie buck at the moment makes them real attractive. The steppers are Keling, Gecko drives, 6061 T6 ally used extensively and in house V rails all round. Can not fault the workmanship one bit. Machines are made to order and take about 5 to 6 weeks to finish. Ron the owner is a very straight up guy, he took me from never seeing a desk top CNC to making it run a sample pattern in a 5 min phone call, he has also been patient on software related questions even though they should have been directed at the software suppliers, might be another one to consider? Cheers Paul.

Thanks for the info. Those Romaxx machines look nice. I guess you have to add 15% duty & gst to get them into Australia. What did delivery for the WD1 set you back? The EBay ones are charging $500. Is that about the going rate?

Given one of my primary uses is working on pen barrels, doesn't this make a 4th axis essential?

Russell.

Yeah I agree with Paul.

I have the smaller Romaxx machine - bought it 2nd hand last year. It's a great machine - very sturdy and reliable.

Kev

Originally Posted by BoomerangInfo

Thanks for the info. Those Romaxx machines look nice. I guess you have to add 15% duty & gst to get them into Australia. What did delivery for the WD1 set you back? The EBay ones are charging $500. Is that about the going rate?

Given one of my primary uses is working on pen barrels, doesn't this make a 4th axis essential?

Russell.

Air freight for my machine (90+kgs) was $1246.00, goverment got me for a grand. No duty on the machine as it was made in the US. I also got mine with all the cheese, MPG, table, dust shoe and software. Cheers Paul.

Originally Posted by Bigriver

Air freight for my machine (90+kgs) was $1246.00

*Falls of his chair* Ouch! That's a lot of money. Could buy a 1-way plane ticket and stick it in a passengers seat for less, couldn't you?

That puts even the HS1 around $5,000 by the time you option it up I assume you guys are getting a good return on investment from these. I'm still torn between one of these and a laser engraver. I have different uses for each, but only the funds for one.

How intricate can you get with these units? If I wanted to engrave words on a pen, is that pushing the capabilities? I saw a sliding head/bit somewhere today (can't find it again) that showed carving cylinders with no rotary attachment, but it was another US$375 as well.

Thanks. Russell.

I must admit I have bought bulk goods in from the US in the past and expected a hefty bill, so $1246.00 did not flaw me. I just did a quick mental note and the WD-1 thus far has cost me about $10,000.00 with a spindle, some cutters, a desk top computer and small dust extractor, water pump and another CAM program. I can claim this expense back through my business though, so I guess that helps. The main thing the machine will do is cut polycarb fishing lure parts, the fun side of things will be my hobby of making guitars. When I was researching Desk Top CNC's I came across a guy who goes to outdoor expo's, sets up his machine and makes custom signs for peoples house's. He goes around to timber mills and picks up scraps with a bit of character and carves "Home Sweet Home" or "ponderosa" Whatever? In them, he said the machine had paid for itself in 6 shows, and he paid a lot more than $10,000.00 for his setup. Cheers Paul.

Thanks for the bio, and while it is encouraging, I still have to have the initial funds to invest. When starting up a business, there's never enough to do everything, so the question is, cut corners, or leave something for another day. Guess some more research is in order.

Russell.