[aarggh]

I got mine from "lovehappyshopping", but these guys -

amonstar | eBay

- appear to be about the cheapest currently. Almost all of them also sell the 1.5kw spindle/vfd sets, so you could ask to upgrade the one on the machine, but it's quite possible that these generally are turnkey sales so I wouldn't be surprised if they wouldn't be able to. Failing that, you could buy a 1.5kw set, and just swap them over yourself, but having said that, the 0.8kw is a surprisingly capable and powerful spindle, and may well do you fine for most work. And given that the cost component of the 0.8kw spindle and vfd would be a very small part of the cost of the overall machine, I would think it handy to just have around for when you build 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc, machine! Shame the controller that comes supplied isn't of any use though!

One thing I forgot though, is one of the first things you'll need to make if you buy the 1.5kw set as well, is an 80mm spindle mount! That was actually what I did myself!

For the money, these are awesome machines, and seeing as you've already got a G540, you're home and hosed!

cheers,
Ian

[Alekoy]

The seller I bought from was Tool-zoom, I contacted them on ebay, but the buying itself was outside ebay, and the payment was done on paypal.

Arrived in Norway in less than a week, shipped by DHL.

Now that I have used the machine a little, I would say that the little 0,8kw spindle is sufficient, I've milled alu, MDF and 3mm sheet metal and the spindle has done its work without any hesitation. BUT if the 1,5kw spindle does not cost a whole lot extra, I probably would buy that (bigger is almost always better)

[aarggh]

I've got the 0.8kw, 1.5kw, and 2.2kw spindles, and as i'm very mindful of the cost of running these things for extended periods, I personally find the 1.5kw to be the sweet spot for power usage, grunt, and performance.

The 0.8kw is more than adequate for most use, and is especially suited for mundane and repetitive stuff that's fairly easily machined, while the 1.5kw is really great for plowing through lots of aluminium machining. The 2.2kw I haven't found really offers that much of a performance boost over the 1.5kw for my needs currently, so all general stuff is done with the 0.8kw, and heavy machining with the 1.5kw.

I am planning a cnc machine next year or so, specifically for machining aluminium with flood coolant, and I'm setting aside the 2.2kw for that purpose as it will be fairly hard work, but the grunt would just be wasted on lighter stuff IMHO. Here in OZ our utility bills are going through the roof, so running costs are more and more a real concern.

cheers,
Ian

[Foogl]

For the money, these are awesome machines, and seeing as you've already got a G540, you're home and hosed!

Sooo, my two boxes with 6040 arrived. You hooked me up Ian!

Looks like no damage on the way. Packaging was absolutely fantastic, bubble wrap, PU foam, foil ... would take me a week to pack it like that.
Frame looks nice and sturdy (and heavy), spindle looks really good, movements all nice and smooth, servos are fine (270oz), VFD is acceptable. But man! Wires and controller are absolute crap (expected). No shielding, no grounding, nothing. I didn't even have balls to start that blue box up. I'm going to visit McMaster-Carr tomorrow (it is absolute joy to live 5 miles from this wonder-store) for new cables and I will hook it up with my new G540 right a way. Cannot wait.

Thanks for the good tip!

[aarggh]

Wires and controller are absolute crap (expected). No shielding, no grounding, nothing. I didn't even have balls to start that blue box up. I'm going to visit McMaster-Carr tomorrow (it is absolute joy to live 5 miles from this wonder-store) for new cables and I will hook it up with my new G540 right a way. Cannot wait.

Thanks for the good tip!

Great! They really are good value, you'll probably find the table will be very slightly out over some of it, but no big deal to shim or adjust that. I didn't find mine to out enough to worry me for what I was doing with it. Good idea to not touch the supplied controller, otherwise you might reasonably think it's worth "having a look at", after all, just how bad could it be? And before you know it, you've lost a week and it still doesn't work!

The g540's are a real treat, they have a rock solid reputation for a good reason, they really are that good!

I'd recommend checking over the cabling though, and make sure all the connectors are solid, and start mapping out the A-/A+ and B-/B+ from the controller (assuming it's wired right, if it's not, doesn't matter as you'll soon work it out) to make it easier for the G540 hookup.

cheers,
Ian

[port_huon]

I finally been able to get mine set up, at least as far as the controller would let me - dead X axis.
Rather than try to chase down the seller to get a replacement, I'm just going to build a new box with a G540. Got the power supply, connectors, switches etc yesterday and should have the cable tomorrow.
I did have to take the hardware apart as it was out of alignment, probably due to a couple of weeks in the back of the van. No binding on any axis but the ballscrews could use some grease - if there were grease nipples installed.
Once I get movement under G540 control, then I'll tackle the VFD.

Has anyone worked out the best place to fit limit/home switches?

[aarggh]

I finally been able to get mine set up, at least as far as the controller would let me - dead X axis.
Rather than try to chase down the seller to get a replacement, I'm just going to build a new box with a G540. Got the power supply, connectors, switches etc yesterday and should have the cable tomorrow.
I did have to take the hardware apart as it was out of alignment, probably due to a couple of weeks in the back of the van. No binding on any axis but the ballscrews could use some grease - if there were grease nipples installed.
Once I get movement under G540 control, then I'll tackle the VFD.

Has anyone worked out the best place to fit limit/home switches?

I haven't found a home/limit switch setup I've been happy with so can't help you there sorry, but with the grease, if it was anything like it was on mine, it's a horrible thick gunky mess. I cleaned it all off with kero and used fresh good quality (lithium based from memory?) grease, and it was smooth and quiet. My other machine had the same sort of grease and it actually seems to go hard and gum up the balls after time.

Have you looked at the mach3 screenset for the zero-axis from ger21? I'll be aiming for that myself.

cheers,
Ian

cheers,
Ian

[port_huon]

Problem with mine was (is) no grease!. There's nothing evident on the ballscrew and I can't tell if there is any in the ballnut itself. A lack of grease nipples and no way to install any, doesn't help.

I'll be wiring up the control box as per the diagram from Homann Design. I got the various parts I needed from them (except the G540 which I already had). I especially like the 9 pin stepper breakout boards with a built in variable resistor

I'll look up ger21's zero-screen set to see what it is Still getting to grips with Mach 3.

[jaru-eri]

Problem with mine was (is) no grease!. There's nothing evident on the ballscrew and I can't tell if there is any in the ballnut itself. A lack of grease nipples and no way to install any, doesn't help.

Do you need nipples for grease? Wouldn´t it be sufficient to smear the lead screws and the grease will then get to the balls when they run over it?