[aarggh]

It doesn´t include shipping.

Regarding the spindle. Will it be better to choose a different spindle and VFD than they include in their system?

In the price ranges they use the spindle and VFD's will all be the same regardless where you get them from. So it's a personal choice, if you got a very substantial saving it would be worth buying separately, that's pretty unlikely though, so you'd generally be better getting them from the one seller I would think.

Without shipping that machines not so attractive, considering the shipping could go up to $500-$600, plus 3300 for the controller and power supply, plus $380-$400 for the spindle/VFD. Then another $50 for cables and connectors!

Suddenly that machine is around $2200! Not so cheap but we wanted a machine without the crap controller!

The spindle/VFD is a fixed cost, and would normally be supplied along with the cables, so let's put a value of $100 on the controller and driver unit, and power supply, the machine cost drops to around $2000, not cheaper at all considering!

It's still priced to push towards a package deal in my book. Unless they do a good deal on the shipping that is. So your probably still better off buying the whole package, and scrapping the controller unit at that price.

cheers,
Ian

[port_huon]

There is a freight calculator on the carving-cnc website.
Some examples for shipping for the 'main body' unit (no electronics other than stepper motors)
$350 to Australia
$266 to US (west coast)
$315 to UK

[aarggh]

There is a freight calculator on the carving-cnc website.
Some examples for shipping for the 'main body' unit (no electronics other than stepper motors)
$350 to Australia
$266 to US (west coast)
$315 to UK

Hi Geoff, looking at the shipping to OZ, it comes to $2k allowing for:

$280 G540
$50 PSU
$380 VFD/Spindle
$50 Cables/connectors

Given these machines run around $1500-$1700 all up on average shipped (mine was around $1600 inc shipping from memory), it's at the very least a break even, allowing for the single purchase of a G540. Still better to buy the whole kit and caboodle, and then a G540 in my book!

Then you've got a controller case and parts you can butcher or sell off if you want, and the cables are all done for you. And hopefully you've still saved on top of that.

As there's around $750-$800 of parts required for a mechanics only machine, the price is still inflated by around $150-$200 I reckon, the price point needs to be around $1150-$1200 inc shipping tops for a break even. Curiously, when I originally looked at these machines, and asked for an extra complete 3 axis controller with the machine, it was around $150 ex shipping extra. So the costs don't add up if the controller is anywhere near $150, and the VFD/spindle, PSU, cables,etc aren't supplied.

cheers,
Ian

[jasonharris22]

There is another factor that people may be missing in this equation. Time.

The time required to make and assemble the unit. How much time/money is being accounted for having this built for you? Seeing some figures put out I am assuming that it's just being looked at with our diy costs in mind and we don't charge ourselves.

They are selling to an international market and honestly they dont have to charge $1 an hour or whatever someone in china might earn.

When I look at that and think whats a reasonable western wage and what it would cost to assemble/make then I dont think it is too bad.

Sure, shipping might make it too expensive but he doesnt control where we live.

[aarggh]

There is another factor that people may be missing in this equation. Time.

The time required to make and assemble the unit. How much time/money is being accounted for having this built for you?

The tech is just brilliant considering what these would have cost only 5 or ten years ago, but that wasn't what I was comparing or even looking at. I was purely looking at this as a "is it better value to buy the base machine and upgrade or buy the whole kit and caboodle" comparison.

As a side by side comparison comparing the base machine offering as opposed to the fully kit'ed machine, I was simply making the personal observation that pricewise it's still better to buy the whole thing based on the pricing shown. That;'s purely my opinion of course and aplies to my circumstances, and the level of accessibility I have to purchasing the required extra parts not supplied in the base machine.

Of course someone who can source spindles, VFD's, PSU's, or drivers cheaper may then find the base machine better value.

That certainly doesn't mean either option isn't good value at all, it simply means for most people one of the two options will just be better value depending on their circumstances.

cheers,
Ian

[MarcusWolschon]

Because nobody else answered:
The stepper motors have an inductance of something between 2.2 and 2.5mH
So the optimum power supply for a Gecko G540 has 32*sqrt(2.2)=47.5 and 50,6V.
Thus a 48V one will do fine as long as it can provide the 3A per axis plus some headroom.

Did anyone find a good way to mount a vacuum cleaner to the spindle?
Already found a good way to add end-stops to X+Y, no idea for Z and a home for A yet.
What do you guys to for the water-cooled spindle? I found a simple 5l bucket too small. It seriously heats up that water in no time. Will have to find a way to have that part outside the workshop as it gets really hot after an hour or two.

Stock electronics worked without any issues due to interference for it's first 2 days of use.
Despite being driven by a very old laptop that still had an LPT port.
Also nothing was missing (like the probe previously mentioned).
Just DHL manages to bend an edge of the heavy work-surface despite it being packaged in heavy foam surrounded by wooden plates. Made mounting the bracket for the cable chain difficult.

[MarcusWolschon]

Did anyone find a way to connect the E-stop with that spindle controller?
(So the spindle spins down in case an E-stop is hit.)

[itain]

I have asked here about 3040 but on a last minute decision I changed my mind and bought 6040Z+S from a seller who is present on aliexpress. I got it on Sunday, earlier than expected and so far had very little time to play with it. Arranged an old computer with LinuxCNC to control it. Using the cables and drivers that came with the machine and so far haven't seen a single problem (not one that I can see by eye). I'm still not very confident with the machine (and with my abilities to use it correctly) so I tried it on foam first and now on soft wood.

I need advice on proper use of the machine. Instructions are saying just to use 4L water tank for cooling. Should I use tap water? distilled water? car engine coolant? Tap water here has very high calcium content. Until I get a better suggestion I use the water dripping from the air-conditioner (closest thing to distilled water).

Should I apply more grease to rails and lead-screws? I have some red "Cycle Grease with Teflon" which is very good for my bicycle.. will it be good also on lead-screws?

[MarcusWolschon]

With the 1.5KW spindle a 4L bucket is not enough.
I did that mistake and am now building a permanent solution for the cooling issue.
Use something larger and place it outside your workshop.
It heats up the room pretty well.

Just think what a 1.0KW microwave oven or an 800W water-boiler does to 4L of water.

[itain]

Did anyone find a way to connect the E-stop with that spindle controller?
(So the spindle spins down in case an E-stop is hit.)

Marcus, I found this thread containing some useful information. It's long and I did not have time to read enough of it. I also would like to have the VFD controlled by the CNC software (stopping on E-Stop and on end of job is the absolute minimum). Probably more could be achieved.

And here is a link to a manual of some VFD inverter. The outside is not the same as mine, but I believe they are related product so this manual may be useful to some extent.

-- Itai

Edit:
This thread may be relevant for LinuxCNC.

[Dylwad]

With the 1.5KW spindle a 4L bucket is not enough.
I did that mistake and am now building a permanent solution for the cooling issue.
Use something larger and place it outside your workshop.
It heats up the room pretty well.

Just think what a 1.0KW microwave oven or an 800W water-boiler does to 4L of water.

You should only need to handle 150 watts of heat max, you might have bad bearings or need a bigger pump. I run a 2.2kw with a cpu cooling system out of a MAC and the spindle rises about 5° from ambient, which is over 100° f this time of year.

I use a kid/pet safe antifreeze for cars mixed with distilled water, and probably have 4L total water volume in the entire system.

The steppers emit way more heat than the spindle!

[aarggh]

With the 1.5KW spindle a 4L bucket is not enough.
I did that mistake and am now building a permanent solution for the cooling issue.
Use something larger and place it outside your workshop.
It heats up the room pretty well.

Just think what a 1.0KW microwave oven or an 800W water-boiler does to 4L of water.

I've found the same as Dylwad for my spindle too, I use just undiluted anti-freeze, 5 litres total, and no matter how long I run the machine for (some jobs 12-18 hours straight), the spindle doesn't get above just a little warm, and the anti-freeze stays at ambient, or very slightly above, certainly not warm or even hot though.

Maybe you have a blockage in the fluid path restricting flow?

cheers,
Ian

[jasonharris22]

On my 2.2kw spindle it ran for ever using a computer water cooling setup that had only a few hundred mills of yellow liquid that came with the setup. It had a small radiator with two 100mm fans. No issues at all. I have seen many people go that route when the Chinese spindles came in to fashion.

[Dylwad]

I used the pump and radiator from a used Powermac G5 ($25 ebay) works great. Its mostly sealed with a 500ml expansion tank (nalgene bottle with holes drilled in the cap with tygon tubes press fit)

[aarggh]

I used the pump and radiator from a used Powermac G5 ($25 ebay) works great. Its mostly sealed with a 500ml expansion tank (nalgene bottle with holes drilled in the cap with tygon tubes press fit)

I don't have anything that fancy! :-)

Mine just sits in a plastic box with a towel over the top to stop dust contaminating it! I'm thinking of machining an aluminium case that can mount on the side of the machine down the track though. The current box does look unsightly.

cheers,
Ian

[megaduty]

I used a 5 gallon see-through Home Depot bucket and lid with various 1/4" and 3/8" nylon barbs to 1/2" threaded bases connected through the lid with 1/2" connectors and another 3/4" barb with an uptake hose attached and weighted down in the bucket. I have some pics on my G+ post here: https://plus.google.com/101948760925084043079/posts

I see some have had no issue with automotive grade coolant which sounds good to me. I have a bottle of Prestone Extended Life 50/50 Prediluted Antifreeze/Coolant; anyone know why that wouldn't work fine in my CNC6040 .8kw spindle??

[aarggh]

I used a 5 gallon see-through Home Depot bucket and lid with various 1/4" and 3/8" nylon barbs to 1/2" threaded bases connected through the lid with 1/2" connectors and another 3/4" barb with an uptake hose attached and weighted down in the bucket. I have some pics on my G+ post here: https://plus.google.com/101948760925084043079/posts

I see some have had no issue with automotive grade coolant which sounds good to me. I have a bottle of Prestone Extended Life 50/50 Prediluted Antifreeze/Coolant; anyone know why that wouldn't work fine in my CNC6040 .8kw spindle??

If it's designed to run through and also rust protect the various metal, plastic and rubber parts of an engine and radiator system, I don't see why it wouldn't be perfectly fine in this simple application. I think the only thing to worry about is the dilution mix of the various brands on the market.

And I also wouldn't mix it with water, just use undiluted as they already are diluted to varying degrees.

cheers,
Ian

[Dylwad]

Not too fancy, silent, maintanence free and cheap.

If anything, spend the $$ on laboratory grade tygon tubing, its worth it!

[aarggh]

I wouldn't mind spending a little if I could find a really suitable container that ticks all the boxes for me, but I haven't yet, so may just end up fabricating one as I really can't stand the bucket.

One thing I forgot to mention is the importance of not using a see through container, you need to shield the fluid from natural light or UV as it can develop "blooms" which can spread rapidly spoiling the contents, and clogging up the pathways.

cheers,
Ian

[Dylwad]

I searched high and low for a cheap aluminum or stainless container and came up dry. Im not sure algae can bloom in antifreeze, water based flood coolant on a mill is a different beast altogether.