Mini CNC machine

[NetBlindPaul]

Just beware of buying equipment like this sourced from outside the UK/EU, regardless of whether bought through a “.co.uk“ site, including Amazon, you will be legally viewed as the importer so legally responsible for the safety of the equipment.
Amazon will wriggle out of any and all responsibility, and have, unless you buy it direct from them, if it is a market place sale then you are on your own.
Especially if you sell it on, use it outside your home, or allow it to be used by another person for example in a business or the 3rd sector.
Your only risk at home is a fire claim being refused by your insurer if the equipment is identified as the source, and the hazard to yourself & family.
These things are very tempting, but they are cheap for a reason, and I’ve worked with Chinese machine designers and builders who wanted to improve their equipment to UK/EU safety standards and they were hard work because of the different cultural outlook on machine design and safety.
They don’t have the concept, nor understanding of the EHSR’s of the legislation to protect users, so don’t expect the equipment to be fail safe, nor inherantly safe to set up, or operate.

 

[Sandyn]

Great advice. There is a HUGE hole in consumer protection in the UK for products like this. All kinds of dangerous things are sold on the big internet sites. I have seen things sold which are just downright dangerous, but as we see again and again, it's not just the cheap imports which pose a danger, it also comes from fully approved products such as washing machines and general white goods.
But at that price.....soooooo tempting . Fortunately despite all the non-legal stuff entering, the incidence of serious problems are low. Just be aware of what you are buying and..... Smoke detectors!!! and ELCB's are essential.

 

[NetBlindPaul]

Great advice. There is a HUGE hole in consumer protection in the UK for products like this. All kinds of dangerous things are sold on the big internet sites. I have seen things sold which are just downright dangerous, but as we see again and again, it's not just the cheap imports which pose a danger, it also comes from fully approved products such as washing machines and general white goods.
But at that price.....soooooo tempting . Fortunately despite all the non-legal stuff entering, the incidence of serious problems are low. Just be aware of what you are buying and..... Smoke detectors!!! and ELCB's are essential.

I have honestly been tempted by these kinds of machines myself.
In a way, I am lucky that I can identify the hazards and mitigate them, but, I would still be encouraging the sale of illegal products, and the destruction of UK, EU & US manufacturing.

 

[Sandyn]

I have honestly been tempted by these kinds of machines myself.
In a way, I am lucky that I can identify the hazards and mitigate them, but, I would still be encouraging the sale of illegal products, and the destruction of UK, EU & US manufacturing.

I sort of have a rule. If it is something that is safety critical and might endanger others in the house I would never buy anything un-approved. I aim for UL listing. I have no faith in far East CE marked products knowing how easy it is to dodge round the requirements.

If it's something I will use myself and is not left on when not in use. I will take the risk, but I will do a quick check of the critical parts.
Power supplies. Only UL listed and I do an audit of the listing number.

I have a very interesting case open with UL about a LED driver carrying the UL listing number for an ITE power supply. I lost my access to the full UL data base when I stopped work. I only have consumer access, which tells you very little.

 

[paulrbarnard]

I have honestly been tempted by these kinds of machines myself.
In a way, I am lucky that I can identify the hazards and mitigate them, but, I would still be encouraging the sale of illegal products, and the destruction of UK, EU & US manufacturing.

Are there any U.K. manufacturers of hobby grade CNC?

 

[JBaz]

I bought a Banggood 3018 last year with the intention of engraving personalised elements of my wooden pieces. Things like "Happy birthday Joe Bloggs" on the lid of a box. I also dreamed of making some of the chopping boards like Broinwood makes ........ have a look at some of his YouTube posts.

It came "flatpack" but it went together pretty easily, everything fitted, and the software downloaded OK.

I'm not "CAD literate" but I had used the Inkscape publishing software (free - open source) in the past and looking around the web it seems a lot of people use this to drive these "engravers", which are really light-duty routers. Be aware that the Chinese manufacturers do practice "continuous development" so the components that arrive may not be exactly the same as those shown in the instructions. My Arduino clone (control board) looked nothing like the one in the instructions and turned out to be a much later version. Good in some ways, but very confusing when you are relying on old YouTube posts.

It was quite a steep learning curve and I found YouTube invaluable for the build and a site called CNC Philosophy Learn how to run a Cnc Machine saved my life when my brain exploded over the software.

I now have it working and successfully made a few pieces, but I'm struggling to find single-stoke fonts that will allow me to engrave small text (publishing fonts are hollow, which can't be routed below a certain size. Same problem for a pen plotter) so it hasn't done much work recently.

If you have any problems when yours arrives feel free to get in touch.

 

[robgul]

Are there any U.K. manufacturers of hobby grade CNC?

If you call £1,400 + the cost of the router + software and some other stuff then Ooznest is the nearest that I'm aware of . . . but not at £1,400+ for me

 

[paulrbarnard]

If you call £1,400 + the cost of the router + software and some other stuff then Ooznest is the nearest that I'm aware of . . . but not at £1,400+ for me

Thank you. I had not seen those in previous searches. They look pretty good.

 

[robgul]

Thank you. I had not seen those in previous searches. They look pretty good.

@petermillard has some YouTube stuff about his adventures with Ooznest CNC stuff (IIRC he fitted a cheapie Katsu palm router in his machine)

 

[EddyCurrent]

Are there any U.K. manufacturers of hobby grade CNC?

Try these; CNC Milling Machines & Routers – Stoney CNC

You may find a used one on MYCNCUK forum here; MARKETPLACE

 

[Peri]

Where does it come from - Fukushima?

I'd love a pic of your new PPE gear

 

[oldboffin]

I bought one of these before Xmas, my rationale was that I needed to sort out the workflow from my CAD program to G code then to the machine and at £120 it was probably less than the cost of a one day course if I could have found one. I learnt a lot and I'm now part way through the build of a slightly larger 60cm X 40 cm machine based on my experience.

 

[rwillett]

I built my own CNC machine using the plans from V1 Engineering. You can follow my trials and tribulations here. (New build in Clapham, North Yorkshire, UK)

I brought a 3D printer to do this and use the 3D printer all the time. The CNC machine is now built and I'm spending all my free time writing software to do 3d design and CNC'ing. I don't like most of the software out there. I can't compete with Fusion 360 but I can do better than the low cost el cheapo stuff.

Personally speaking, I looked at the cheap chinese CNC stuff and thought they were very limited in size and also their capability on harder materials. However if they fit your use-case, go for it, but choose carefully. I wanted to cut large foam sheets so th 3018 CNC's were too small. My CNC has a cutting area of 680x600 which is quite large.

Rob

 

[Sheptonphil]

Are there any U.K. manufacturers of hobby grade CNC?

Paul, whilst not Uk manufactured you can get UK sourced CNCs. I have the Inventables Xcarve, a 1000x1000mm cnc which I have also attached a 7w diode laser head to. When restrictions are lifted you’re welcome to pop over to Shepton to see it working and it’s capabilities To see if it’s the sort of machine you are envisaging.

I do believe newcomers think it’s a case of buying one, sending a file to the CNC and hey presto, a finished item. There is a reasonable learning curve before you get safe, repeatable cuts and engraves on expensive materials. From design, to creating workable paths, converting that to machine code is just the start. Then to understand machine capabilities in terms of feed and cut speeds, alignment, especially zeroing the cutter head so it knows where it is at all time, alignment of cutter head to waste board, end limits, so you don’t run the spindle into the sides, and even ensuring the wasteboard is trimmed to the gantry, which needn’t be level, as CNCs will run vertically if you wish. these are a steep, and can be expensive learning curve.

Not trying to put anyone off getting one, I thouroughly enjoy using mine, but you need to be realistic of the learning curve.

 

[paulrbarnard]

Paul, whilst not Uk manufactured you can get UK sourced CNCs. I have the Inventables Xcarve, a 1000x1000mm cnc which I have also attached a 7w diode laser head to. When restrictions are lifted you’re welcome to pop over to Shepton to see it working and it’s capabilities To see if it’s the sort of machine you are envisaging.

I do believe newcomers think it’s a case of buying one, sending a file to the CNC and hey presto, a finished item. There is a reasonable learning curve before you get safe, repeatable cuts and engraves on expensive materials. From design, to creating workable paths, converting that to machine code is just the start. Then to understand machine capabilities in terms of feed and cut speeds, alignment, especially zeroing the cutter head so it knows where it is at all time, alignment of cutter head to waste board, end limits, so you don’t run the spindle into the sides, and even ensuring the wasteboard is trimmed to the gantry, which needn’t be level, as CNCs will run vertically if you wish. these are a steep, and can be expensive learning curve.

Not trying to put anyone off getting one, I thouroughly enjoy using mine, but you need to be realistic of the learning curve.

Phil, That's a great offer and I will take you up on that when restrictions permit. Right now my Dad is building one which has driven my interest considerably. I have a 3D printer and a laser head for it so have a bit of experience with 3 axis machines. For my part I'm weighing up buying parts to build something, buy a ready made machine or doing a conversion on my mini mill. It's a longer term project so for sure not going to happen before restriction lift.

 

[alanwetherall]

Hi we have just ordered a 1500mm x 1500mm ooznest workbee.
If you go on youtube to Peter Millards site (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_FksrzP3q-IuoWTiG501LQ) he has 11 videos of his experince of the workbee machine. Beware it will take about 30 hrs to build it. I have previous experince of build a snapmaker 3d printer so it doesnt scare me off.
we bought it because its had excellent reviews and more importantly it has telephone support which trust me you will need. The software the supply with the machine is very easy to opperate.
hope this helps
alan

 

[Nigel Taylor]

This is the one https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07MCTLW7V/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (My brother has a 3d printer so between us we'll rule the world!!!!)

I bought a Sainsmart 3018-pro version of this, from amazon, it is ok. However, I bought it as I wanted to engrave brass. Hmm, not even close.

However, I have been gradually upgrading it. These have not cost me much, but have cost me time. I should probably have spent £1000 and got something more capable. The upside is I'm learning a lot as I'm new to cnc and all of the hardware and software.

One thing worth checking if you have bought any of the variants of a 3018 cnc are the z-axis rails - I spent ages changing and making bearings to then finally realise that the rails are not 8mm in diameter. Luckily I had some 8mm rails recovered from an old printer. This has sorted the z-axis.

 

[robgul]

Hmm - I spotted the new posts on the thread and realised that I have STILL not got to do much with the little CNC machine I bought back in March other than build it (and cut the plywood to make a box for it) - looks like something for the approaching long winter evenings! Where does the time go?

 

[Nigel Taylor]

Hmm - I spotted the new posts on the thread and realised that I have STILL not got to do much with the little CNC machine I bought back in March other than build it (and cut the plywood to make a box for it) - looks like something for the approaching long winter evenings! Where does the time go?

I have to say it's been a steep learning curve for me as CNC is new to me. I'm just using it to engrave, but really need to learn CAD so that I can make 3D parts - another steep learning curve though and lots of hours lost in the workshop....the hours whiz by. Also, just noticed your signature, I also live in Stratford

 

[robgul]

I have to say it's been a steep learning curve for me as CNC is new to me. I'm just using it to engrave, but really need to learn CAD so that I can make 3D parts - another steep learning curve though and lots of hours lost in the workshop....the hours whiz by. Also, just noticed your signature, I also live in Stratford

My intended use, when I get the time, is to some engraving and cutting out (that's with the routing attachment rather than a laser) My brother has a small 3D printer and has made a few bits and pieces of workshop stuff for me - he also seems to be able to make Lego parts for his grandson!

I'll drop you a PM a bit later - may be some common interests (or experiences!) although my main interests are furniture and fixing wood together (as well as bicycle servicing and repairs)