Steel frame 6040 CNC from ChinaCNCZone any good?

Hi, i'm considering joining the club of Chinese 6040 CNC owners.

After looking around a bit, this one seems decent: https://www.china-cncrouter.com/prod...-Mach3-US.html
And before i buy, i'm wondering what the community here thinks of the machine. I've seen some posts about ChinaCNCZone on this forum, but not that much. I see there is a big thread about OmioCNC here, with a lot of mixed reviews about their machines.

For that machine, i'd go for the 4 axis model, with the linear rail upgrade(+230$ for replacing the rods with linear rails i think). Would end up a bit above 3000$ (including shipping & taxes)

My main goal for this machine would be basically learning about CNC (spent the past year with my 3d printer, which i'm having a lot of fun with :) ). I want the machine to be capable of handling aluminum, but don't have high expectations or needs regarding that. I've got quite some experience in electronics etc... so i'm confident i can handle a Chinese machine :D (just like i tamed my CR10 3d printer in a couple of months). And i realise i'll probably spend quite some more money on the beast after purchase for improvements, tools, ...

Following what i read on this forum
+ this would be buying directly from the manufacturer (their site(s) have plenty of factory pictures etc..)
+ this model seems to be a nice upgrade from the cheaper 6040's (at least, that's what they say :p)
+ shipping & tax are handled by them
+ they mention an XHC mainboard as control unit, which when googling seems like a decent thing. (even though i expect to have to upgrade some/all electronics of the machine at some point :p)

- I compared the stepper motors to those on the popular OmioCNC devices here, and they seem quite a bit weaker. But i find it hard to estimate the impact of this. -> Edit: i'm pretty sure it's a typo in their specs, sent a question about it to their contact person. I can't imagine this machine only having 55N.cm steppers, and their cheaper models having 155N.cm steppers.
- I don't find much posts about ChinaCNCZone here (or in general). Popularity isn't everything, but this could be a bad sign. However some people posted about buying their machines here, and didn't come back to complain, so that's nice :).

What do you guys think of this machine?

Kr
Sven

I don't know this specific unit. My old 6040 was part steel frame and part aluminium. It worked well for over seven years and i used it to build my big machine. Maybe someone here has this model and could advise you better. All i know is that their electronics are usually not great. Good luck :)

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Originally Posted by ericks

I don't know this specific unit. My old 6040 was part steel frame and part aluminium. It worked well for over seven years and i used it to build my big machine. Maybe someone here has this model and could advise you better. All i know is that their electronics are usually not great. Good luck :)

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I find it hard to get a realistic view of the quality of 6040 machines. You'vee got the cnc snobs who say these machines might be good enough to cut cheese, but not much else XD. I know the electronics won't be all that, if needed i'll figure out what needs replacement :).
I think this machine is fairly new in their lineup, so probably not many owners yet. I put the post here to maybe find more people who have experience with this manufacturer, or who maybe spot an obvious flaw in the specs (such as the stepper motor torque, but that appears to be an obvious typo. I'm giving them not so subtle hints that they should really correct that XD)

Could have been a nice router when equipped with linear rails.

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Originally Posted by klaas123

Could have been a nice router when equipped with linear rails.

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They have linear rails as an upgrade, so i'll indeed take that.

Didn't know that BigSven, you won't regret it!

Well....all the best. If you do purchase it and you need assistance then you at the right place :)

I have a chinacnczone 6040 with supported rod y axis and round rail x and y. I have used it for cutting aluminium and light facing cuts on mild steel, and engraving on stainless. A vmc it is not, but linear rails will give you a capable machine, and if mine is representative of their build quality I have no complaints (though you should budget for a real planetcnc controller board - so much better than the cloned board)

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Originally Posted by fhyndoh

I have a chinacnczone 6040 with supported rod y axis and round rail x and y. I have used it for cutting aluminium and light facing cuts on mild steel, and engraving on stainless. A vmc it is not, but linear rails will give you a capable machine, and if mine is representative of their build quality I have no complaints (though you should budget for a real planetcnc controller board - so much better than the cloned board)

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I expect some upgrades will be needed, i bought enough chinese stuff to know what to expect :). It's nice to hear from someone who has one of their machines :). Still looking through the details a bit, but will order the machine soon :).

Looking forward to seeing what their linear rail upgrade includes. Is it on all 3 axis? Does it extend the travel of the Z-axis? What size linear rail? 15mm? 20mm?

Let us know!

Did you buy the machine? Ithink of buying the same. Any update to your experience would help a lot! Thanks in advance.
Fritz

I bought this machine and very happy with it ..

Kompas H - 1000 HF | Cau Cau

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Originally Posted by klaoml

Did you buy the machine? Ithink of buying the same. Any update to your experience would help a lot! Thanks in advance.
Fritz

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I ended up buying it, but with the Corona crisis, it got stuck in customs somewhere. It should finally be on the move again and get to me somewhere in april. Let's hope for the best.

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Originally Posted by BigSven

I ended up buying it, but with the Corona crisis, it got stuck in customs somewhere. It should finally be on the move again and get to me somewhere in april. Let's hope for the best.

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And it has arrived! I can only commend the customer service of ChinaCNCZone. This is a **** situation to end up in, something getting stuck in customs for months due to a pandemic, but they kept communicating correctly (and properly extending my aliexpress purchase protection so i had a guarantee too), and the machine finally arrived here today. The crate was a falling apart a bit (was taped back together, the lid was no longer attached), but looking inside, the machine appears to be in great condition, couldn't even see a scratch, My workday is just starting, but this evening i'll finally have some time to unpack & get to know this machine .
Maybe in a month or so i can start giving some first impressions of this beast :).

One first quick observation: this machine is more than i expected XD. I knew the 55Ncm steppers they advertised couldn't be the case. I however didn't expect 1.2Nm servos on each axis XD. And of course it's big & heavy, almost got it to its place yesterday, maybe today i'll have my first chance at trying to turn it on XD.

I am thinking of placing an order for the steel frame 3040 from the same seller. I asked the salesman and he confirmed that the stepper motors only is 0.9 Nm which I find a bit low for milling steel and aluminum. Looking forward to hearing more about your experience with your machine Sven. Are you swedish?

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Originally Posted by Angrysalad

I am thinking of placing an order for the steel frame 3040 from the same seller. I asked the salesman and he confirmed that the stepper motors only is 0.9 Nm which I find a bit low for milling steel and aluminum. Looking forward to hearing more about your experience with your machine Sven. Are you swedish?

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I'm not from Sweden no, but i am from Europe XD (but not a scandinavian country, despite my name :p). I'm really new to CNC, so i wouldn't know yet how to estimate if the motors are powerful enough or not. I must say, from the pictures i assume that the 3040 comes with steppers, while 6040 & larger come with servos. Assuming that the steppers aren't closed loop... i would indeed worry about how good they are for milling metal (When learning about CNC, i see a lot of videos about issues with missed steps once you reach the limit of what your steppers are capable of). I'm currently taking CNC step by step. Started with some wood & acrylic, as i do electronics, a next thing to try will making a pcb. The next plan is some more complicated wood stuff i've got planned, and then once i feel comfortable with materials that will easily yield if you do something stupid, start experimenting with some metal :).

Ah you left us hanging!!! we all want to know how this thing is at cutting Steel ! -... so ... how is it?

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Originally Posted by GogglesAndGumptionGuy

Ah you left us hanging!!! we all want to know how this thing is at cutting Steel ! -... so ... how is it?

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Haven't gotten to steel yet, have done some first experiments with Aluminum, where my only struggles were clamping it down properly ^^'...

If i go further with this machine, i'll try to remember to post updates :). But so far pretty happy with this machine, servos with absolute positioning & enough strength, and a stiffer steel frame really haven't made me get to a point yet where i felt it was underpowered. Cutting through wood as if it was butter is fun :p.

Yeah I know from my aluminum frame version it is really fun on wood, Yes SUPER interested what this machine can do with steel using 1/4 and 1/2" (13mm) bits.... sure you could put a small vice in there to really get things clamped in good. Yes PLEASE as there has to be something other than trying to slap together aftermaket kits on X2 mini mills! All of us are counting on you - Bust this home industrial revolution out - yours will be the first REAL USER reviews out there for steel on next level gantry machines (seriously, I've done an exhaustive search everywhere and can't find anything) ! Which if it does prove to be successful, its at a price point many can break into and ready to go!