Mechanical quality / accuracy of Chinese routers?

Can anyone here say something about the mechanical quality / accuracy of Chinese routers?

I'm in the market for a 6090 or 6012 router but I'm a bit scared of the axis not being squared and leveled and other mechanical things that could give some serious head aches. Is that something to worry about with these machines?

As an owner of several Chinese machines, I can say they all have exceeded my expectations on build quality.

My 6090, not the table version, is a huge brute that just keeps on plugging away beautifully, and is possibly the best investment I have ever made. I did research models and suppliers for some time beforehand though as the variants for sale can be quite different. For example one that has regularly received well due criticism is the Keiling CNC version, which is almost the same as all the other 6090's, but has extremely thin gantry arms, which of course immediately translates to a large amount of flex when machining.

Some 6090's also have round rails, the linear Hiwin style rails are much superior though, and worth every extra cent.

I had some reservations about the control software, NCStudio, but have since come to really appreciate the simplicity and absolute reliability of it.

I did add a thick spoilboard and machined it flat so everything is then level.

In short, do your homework on the features of the model your looking at, and check it's value compared to other models available.

cheers, Ian

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Originally Posted by aarggh

As an owner of several Chinese machines, I can say they all have exceeded my expectations on build quality.

My 6090, not the table version, is a huge brute that just keeps on plugging away beautifully, and is possibly the best investment I have ever made. I did research models and suppliers for some time beforehand though as the variants for sale can be quite different. For example one that has regularly received well due criticism is the Keiling CNC version, which is almost the same as all the other 6090's, but has extremely thin gantry arms, which of course immediately translates to a large amount of flex when machining.

Some 6090's also have round rails, the linear Hiwin style rails are much superior though, and worth every extra cent.

I had some reservations about the control software, NCStudio, but have since come to really appreciate the simplicity and absolute reliability of it.

I did add a thick spoilboard and machined it flat so everything is then level.

In short, do your homework on the features of the model your looking at, and check it's value compared to other models available.

cheers, Ian

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Thanks for the info! What kind of upgrades did you choose to the 'standard' 6090?

I ended up going for the 6090A which came with qood quality linear rails on all axis, and unfortunately bought the obligatorily 4th axis for a hundred or so extra, which turned out to be a worthless pile of crap. Apart from that it was the bog standard A model. But I did do a lot of comparisons among suppliers as mentioned, which highlighted the thin wall issues for the Keiling CNC units. Mine also came with a cheap but very nice submersible pump for the spindle that has been happily and quietly plugging away for many years now.

Yes it felt like it was a dodgy and very stressful process buying, and then importing it (and dealing with customs!), and yes the castings had bits of sand still stuck underneath, and yes the occasional screw hole was reamed out for the curtain support, (big deal really), but honestly, I really couldn't be any happier with the machine. For the money I paid, and given the accuracy and power of the machine, it's hands down the best investment I ever made! If I wanted to worry about the exceedingly trivial (and cosmetic) issues, I could have paid 4-5 times what I did and gone through a local distributor instead.

There simply isn't anything on the market that comes close to the build quality and pricing of these machines.

cheers, Ian