[arul]

Can you tell me the price at which you bought that machine;
and describe more on the machine;

[DeVille]

Seems like a nice machine!

Im also looking at this machine, Im looking forward to follow this thread!

The thing that makes me wait with an order, is the shipping cost to Sweden.
How much did you pay for the shipping.

Can you take pictures of the packaging when it arrives? Think we all are waiting for pictures.

Was the contact with SalesCnc good and professional?

I have built a smaller MDF CNC today, runs with Mach3, my experience is limited, but I will help you as best I can

Sorry for my poor spelling, English is not my mother tounge :-)

/DeVille

[viroy]

I just wrote to the email address on the webpage and received a reply from Jimmy Chund, who answered all my questions until I decided to purchase.
For working at a chinese company, Jimmy speaks English very well.. I was pleased not having to worry about a language barrier and was a big decision in choosing to continue further with them prior to purchasing.

Freight charge to Wisconsin USA from china was between $500-$600.
Money was sent through PayPal and they actually split half of the paypal fee with me! I thought that was very considerate! Usually I have to add on about 4% of the final product cost to cover paypal fees from other chinese companies.

Jimmy sent an email to me with the shipping container details... but I cannot for the life of me find it (probably put it somewhere 'safe' so I wouldnt loose it). The email had pictures of what it looks like along with dimensions & weight.
I remember it being something like 4' wide by 6' long by 4' tall @ 700lbs.
It it supposed to come in a completely wooden crate, boxed in on all sides with pallet grooves on the bottom for moving with lift.

I will send an email in soon to checkup.
I also need to figure out what controller I need to process Gcode for.

[viroy]

I am new to the process of going from design to cutting.
I was a CNC operator previously but never had to define toolpaths or generate Gcode. I just changed bits and loaded materials then hit start.
I took a course on solidworks and have been using SW2008 SP3 for a while now. I am comfortable with designing the parts I need to cut and have 3 part designs completed, I would like to start cutting them from aluminum as soon as the CNC arrives. I thought that was all I had to do prior to purchasing the CNC.

What I didnt know was that I need to define all the toolpaths and generate Gcode in something other than SolidWorks. I have been researching this over the past few days and have taken a liking to SolidCam. I was on their website all day watching the training videos and really like it.
I am seriously considering purchasing a copy of SolidCam, but thinking of trying to find a 2008 R3 version as that is what most of their training videos are for (that and maybe I can an older version alot cheaper).

I still have much more to learn, but I think I can generate the Gcode for cutting on my own with SolidCam. What I dont know is, what do I need to setup inside Mach3? I cannot find any instruction for setting limits or anything that should be done prior to cutting.
I could really use some help getting from SolidWorks, to Mach3.
Mach3 is the biggest mystery to me right now... I cant even find out how to just manually jog the XYZ axi's.

[DeVille]

If you would want more info about Mach3 have a look at their website.
And read the manual, they also have training videos there.
Documentation Mach3

Mach3 is one of the best controller software.

I have not used SW that much, I do all my designs in AutoCad 2008.
Then I open them in ArtCam 2008 Pro. This is where i define what profiles to cut and what tool to use. Then i Use a postprocessor for Mach2, that works for me. Since Artcam does not have any postprocessor for Mach3 in mm.

The postprocessor calculates the Gcode needed to do selected machining.

A friend of mine have just bougth SheetCam, and he is satisfied with that.
I like ArtCam for the possibility of 3D machining.

You will probably not need anything more than 2.5D.

Dont start with Aluminium the first thing you do, do some training in ie MDF board. Wont break tools that easy, no need for cooling etc.

If you have Mach3 Activated then you JOG axis with pressing SHIFT+Arrow Left/Rigth/Up/Down.

How much did you pay for the machine.
You also bougth a 4th axis addon, for how much?

By the way, did you get this machine adapted for AC ~110V ?
Here in sweden we got AC ~230V


/DeVille

[viroy]

Oh very nice, I am going to definitely utilize their training vids thanks much for the link!

I did notice that the CNC package also includes a copy of NCStudio V5... I wonder if that is presetup for design & post processing specifically with this CNC.

All said & done... CNC machine, Z-axis upgrade to 5", spindle upgrade to 2.2kw watercooled, 4th axis rotary, shipping & paypal fee = $5,000. I still have to rent a truck & lift to get it to its new home which I'm guessing will cost between $200 - $300.
It runs off of 220vac, 50hz power input.

Wise advice, I will definitely be using wood or something soft for my first trial runs... not only are bits costly, but I really dont want to mess up an expensive block of aluminum either.
Speaking of which... I need to find a good aluminum dealer in the WI area, preferably near Madison if possible. Not only do I need to purchase new aluminum, but I would like to be able to return the shavings for credit towards future purchases... I figure I will be milling over 70% of the raw material away, thats alot of leftovers.
Suggestions welcome

[low_48]

"It runs off of 220vac, 50hz power input."

If it's actually 50hz, you're in trouble. USA is 60 hz, Europe is 50hz.

[srcmadison]

Wisconsin Metals Sales

Good prices and they deliver to Madison several times each week