Fox Alien 4040XE CNC router

[TRITON]

For the rest of us who don't have any experience with this thing.- Amazon £699- probably cheaper elsewhere - or better something else at the same money.
Not far off the cost of the smaller festool domino jointer.

 

[Ollie78]

For the rest of us who don't have any experience with this thing.- Amazon £699- probably cheaper elsewhere - or better something else at the same money.
Not far off the cost of the smaller festool domino jointer.

Nope, so many problems with this design. Its a 3d printer trying to be a router.
Your comparison with the cost of a domino jointer is quite a good example.
The domino is a well made tool that does one specific thing very well, plunge in one direction and cut out a mortice. It costs the same as this machine that is trying to do 3 axis motion for the same money.

Ollie

 

[TRITON]

Nope, so many problems with this design. Its a 3d printer trying to be a router.
Your comparison with the cost of a domino jointer is quite a good example.
The domino is a well made tool that does one specific thing very well, plunge in one direction and cut out a mortice. It costs the same as this machine that is trying to do 3 axis motion for the same money.

Ollie

What would you recommend then ?, though the bloke reviewing it looked to know what he was talking about and while its no industrial affair, i expect for the vast majority of us it would probably do the job.

 

[Ollie78]

What would you recommend then ?, though the bloke reviewing it looked to know what he was talking about and while its no industrial affair, i expect for the vast majority of us it would probably do the job.

The trouble is it looks like it would do the job, but it will certainly not do it well.
It's to do mostly with the way the mechanical components are done. The flimsy corner joints, skinny side plates and small extrusion will make for a very flexible structure.
It is similar to the first xcarve machines which were soon upgraded.

For that money options are limited.
A second hand Shapeoko 3, much better frame design but still belt drive.
A Chinese 60 40 because at least they have linear rails and a slightly better structure.
A second hand Roland or Denford, you might struggle with software or have to update the motion control.
A second hand home made system from someone who has upgraded.
A second hand industrial router like an Isel or pacer.
Keep your eyes on ebay and CNC forums.

Ollie

 

[sploo]

Had a quick flick through the video and agree with Ollie; the plastic wheels running on ally rails will get clogged up very quickly with dust. It looks like an acceptable engraving solution (perhaps with a vacuum hose to protect the wheels), but it sure looks a bit flimsy.

 

[TRITON]

Well thanks for the info, but i reckon most would be put off buying a 2nd hand cnc router given its probably been worked to death and you could end up with a host of problems.

The ones you mentioned. £1500 2nd hand - possibly fubar I mean unless you are experienced in this and few to no new users are, you just dont know the state of things unpacking from the box. The others Denford for example. Whats that £5-7K 2nd hand ?
So we've gone from £699 to £6999

I respect your experience in this. But you cannot compare a hobby machine against an expensive professional or industrial system.

 

[Phill05]

I agree with all Ollie has said, I had a frame cnc given me to use a few years ago that had wheels running on like a knife edge but even they collected dust under and then it ran off, I got rid of it and found a second hand engraving machine and went on to replace all rails, ball screws, and controller, and used it to build to my own design much stronger cnc with a cutting area of 500 mm x 400 mm x 350 mm high and with that I was able to build another for an old friend.
I also helped re-build a stone cutting cnc saw and we purchased a Chinese cnc for use in cutting stone products.

I would say if you have the time to learn cnc are able to build then go for it you will learn such a lot, be able to do such a lot of nice work.

 

[sploo]

The CNCZone forum might be a better place to elicit more ideas (I am also a member, but don't post that often these days).

 

[Ollie78]

Well thanks for the info, but i reckon most would be put off buying a 2nd hand cnc router given its probably been worked to death and you could end up with a host of problems.

The ones you mentioned. £1500 2nd hand - possibly fubar I mean unless you are experienced in this and few to no new users are, you just dont know the state of things unpacking from the box. The others Denford for example. Whats that £5-7K 2nd hand ?
So we've gone from £699 to £6999

I respect your experience in this. But you cannot compare a hobby machine against an expensive professional or industrial system.

I was only meaning the little Denfords or Rolands commonly found in schools etc, they do come up for under a grand.

There is a shapeoko on ebay for £700 at the moment. It will certainly be better than the one in the video.
What about something like this. It will be properly engineered.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/15523996...jBSHCkhT8y&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
The trouble is good materials and engineering are expensive. I have seen many people who have bought the cheap solution only to have to spend a lot of time and effort fixing fundamental problems.
If you get something with good fundamental structure then you can switch the motion control later. The foundation is important.

The thing about them being worked to death is not necessarily correct. They are designed to work all day for years and so have components capable of doing so. Many might have only been used for a few hours a day for prototyping or in a school.

I think of buying second hand like a car, you check it over, test drive it etc. Try to minimise the risk.

Ollie

 

[TRITON]

@Ollie78
What do you reckon on these kits then ?. Recommendations for well under £1k ?

 

[Ollie78]

@Ollie78
What do you reckon on these kits then ?. Recommendations for well under £1k ?

Any link ?

In theory a kit could be good value because you are providing the assembly labour yourself. You can check every part of the job and make sure it's as good as possible.

The same principles apply, stiffness, accuracy, good linear motion, repeatability, correctly specified parts.

Ollie

 

[TRITON]

"These" - General descriptive.

 

[Ollie78]

"These" - General descriptive.

Ok, makes sense, thought you had a,specific one in mind.

You can often find kits in 2 sections.
The mechanical bit so the extrusion brackets etc, leadscrews or ballscrews, fixings.

Then the electronics bit, motion controller, drive for each axis, stepper motors, wires etc.
Spindle and vfd often separate as so many options.

Ollie