[Bromus]

Hi all!

I am currently shopping around for my first cnc machine. I have looked at several different options (shapeoko, zenbot,roland,fireball v9, x6 1500gt etc) but even though some of them (especially the x6 1500gt) seem to be a good value machine it seems to require alot of fixing before I can get it going properly. In addition I can't seem to get a hold of the manufacturer (emailed several times) which is never a good sign! What i am really looking for is a turnkey system which is capable of cutting wood, acrylic and lighter aluminum work (such as 2mm panels). I want to be able to make some PCB:s and make parts in wood or plastic or something like that for robots, toys etc.

Right now I am looking at the "BigFoot Desktop CNC Machine, Turnkey System" from mydiycnc.com but i have had a really hard time finding any review of the machine. However according to the website it seems really easy to get going with the usb interface and software included. If anyone has any experience with the bigfoot (or mydiycnc in general) it would really help me in my decision!

If anyone knows about any other easy to use , good value system I would be very interested to hear about that too!
my budget is around 1500 USD.

I hope that I have provided enough information in this post, but if something important is missing, please tell me.

Thanks! // Bromus

[pippin88]

That BigFoot machine looks very lightweight.
The spindle looks like a dremel type clone (high runout)
NEMA17 motors - fine for a printer or laser (no cutting load) but pretty lightweight otherwise.

I can't see how the X axis works.
- if moving table, the table will be very flexible, if it's moving gantry, what sort of linear motion is used?

[440duster]

I've got one of their smaller machines; its almost 2 years old. To be honest, I wouldn't recommend it. The machine is very light duty and mine has been repaired and upgraded several times. I've made several projects with it but it currently sits awaiting more repair parts. If you've got a $1500 budget, you might be better off going full DIY with better hardware. I've been saving up to buy a CNCRP.

[louieatienza]

$1500? Including spindle, drives, controller, CAM and CAD software?

[Bromus]

Thanks for the feedback!

Even though i hoped for it to be more positive about mydiycnc. Now I still can't decide
Regarding the 1500$ I can imagine going up to 2000$ (for everything but the CAD software which i already have) but I want to avoid as much hassle as possible. Full DIY will take time and i would rather pay a little bit more and save the time. I also want to be able to control it from my laptop.

The fireball seems nice too.

Is there any other nice turnkey system out there that i have missed in the 1500-2000$ class?

[handlewanker]

Hi, you didn't say what work envelope you want to cover.

With a budget of $2,000 max, you would be hard pressed to get a X6 1500GT, which is the better model of the 6040 range and does not appear on EBAY, and by all accounts it's a working model straight out of the box and doesn't need the Gecko G540 upgrade the EBAY 6040's have to have if they are to work at all.

Building one yourself (read, tools machinery, expertise) would most likely cost you more than $2,000 for new parts, but "preloved" will save a lot here to get started.

I would copy the 6040 design as shown on EBAY.

This would give you a work envelope of 600mm X 400mm with a Z clearance under the beam of 100mm.

There are enough photos to show the design layout and construction and possibly the scale.

It would pay to do a costing to see if any significant savings can be had.
Ian.

[mcphill]

Once you add a decent spindle (and if you want to do aluminum, maybe a speed controller for it as well), you will still be under your $1500 budget with this: FireBall V90 CNC Router - This would be a perfect fit for wood, acrylic, and PCB work. If you take very shallow DOC, it would be fine for aluminum "out of the box" using a Bosch Colt trim router too.

Alternatively, get in touch with John Hansford (he actually crated the V90 design) and get one of his newer designs... microcarve MV3

[jckstrthmghty]

Or Johns BBox design which is cheaper and a bigger area of cut.

Didn't know John designed the Fireball v90. Very cool.

Once you add a decent spindle (and if you want to do aluminum, maybe a speed controller for it as well), you will still be under your $1500 budget with this: FireBall V90 CNC Router - This would be a perfect fit for wood, acrylic, and PCB work. If you take very shallow DOC, it would be fine for aluminum "out of the box" using a Bosch Colt trim router too.

Alternatively, get in touch with John Hansford (he actually crated the V90 design) and get one of his newer designs... microcarve MV3

[handlewanker]

Hi, Pardon me for being hypercritical, but Acme screws, MDF sides and oilite bearings are not what you'd call a suitable must have feature on any CNC machine......and a spindle from a laminate trimmer.

Backlash from the Acme screws with Delrin nuts will no doubt be a headache you don't want to think about.

I'm very sceptical in that, in both of the links you posted, the X axis rails are unsupported steel rails and will be subject to torsional twisting by forces from the Z axis, but perhaps the machine(s) are designed for engraving work on wood and plastic etc.....forget about aluminium.

At approx. $600 and $700 each for just the bare bones, it would cost more than this to get all the other parts to make them go......somebody is pulling somebody's leg I think.
Ian.

[jckstrthmghty]

Hi, Pardon me for being hypercritical, but Acme screws, MDF sides and oilite bearings are not what you'd call a suitable must have feature on any CNC machine......and a spindle from a laminate trimmer.

There is 2 major facts to keep in mind. 1 this is DIY which goes hand in hand with 2, the budget. We'd all love to buy a $5000+ 8x4' machine or percision ball screws and THK rails but it's just not going to happen for many.

Backlash from the Acme screws with Delrin nuts will no doubt be a headache you don't want to think about.

From my limited experience acme with anti backlash delrin nuts have been excellent for me. reasonable speed with good accuracy. If there is backlash from the nut I haven't been able to detect it.

I'm very sceptical in that, in both of the links you posted, the X axis rails are unsupported steel rails and will be subject to torsional twisting by forces from the Z axis, but perhaps the machine(s) are designed for engraving work on wood and plastic etc.....forget about aluminium.
Ian.

John addressed this is a post somewhere. Within the A4 form his setup was great. Very accurate and percise. I don't have a MV3 or a bbox myself but from the examples of finished work I've seen I'd say he's telling the truth. I have yet to see a negative review of his products.

Now all of this is for a smaller form factor. Once again A4. Going larger the game changes as well as the needed budget.

[mcphill]

I have a V90, it works as advertised. There is a Yahoo! Group for the V90, LOTS of users there and it is a successful product. The ~$600 is not the full cost, but full cost including Mach and the computer is well under $1500. John's designs are proven, and ever evolving. That said, it is NOT for heavy aluminum cutting, and I never said it was. The OP stressed wood and acrylic ("easy" to cut materials) and PCB's (precision needed, but SUPER easy to cut). These projects are a great fit to THIS style of machine. In addition LIGHT (as I stated) aluminum work is possible. If you want to do heavy aluminum cutting, or move on to steel, this machine would be a paperweight - no question.

[mcphill]

And a couple threads to SHOW what the machine CAN do, rather than assume what it CAN'T do...

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/diy_cn...0_machine.html

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/diy_cn...p_machine.html

The evolution of the machine frames from John is V90 -> A10 -> MV10 -> Many more in his post, the second link above... (It's a long but good read).

[handlewanker]

OK, I'm impressed at what it can do judging by the UTUBE videos, but as I'm a dyed in the wool metal masher, anything else is taboo....LOL.

I won't knock it's qualities any further as it does fulfil a need within it's design, and as the man says, if you want bigger go bigger, if you want better pay more.

MDF is not one of my favourite materials, no matter what it can be used for, but within it's design attributes and under certain circumstance it's still a good if not THE preferred material to have.

I'm more comfortable with metal working and how to make the stuff stay together........to re-learn with other materials is another learning curve.....old dog new tricks etc.
Ian.

[Bromus]

Damn this forum is great!

It sounds like the v90 is the way to go for me. The only small thing still bothering me is the parallel interface. It would really simplify things if it would be possible to run it directly from a laptop as I happen to have a old one lying around. Any good solution for this? Why are almost all CNC:s using a parallel port interface?

[mcphill]

You could use a SmoothStepper and run it from a Laptop. Mach3 was "invented" based on using the Parallel port, and the control signals can be timed (with tricks) very well using the parallel port. The "whole" hobby level CNC arena is based on that foundation. Several years ago, some products started bridging the space to Paralle using a USB interface, the SmoothStepper being one of them (Home, I use one on my Mikini mill, and it works as advertised). There are more options every day, and eventually it will certainly replace the Parallel interface (it will have to as the Parallel interface is going away!). FWIW, Probotix sells a USB based controller and control software combo that you can get bundled with the V90 (for $99 I think). I have ZERO experience with it, and will stay with Mach until I switch to FlashCut... If money is a big issue, LinuxCNC (instead of Mach) may be the best route for you (aka EMC, but name has changed). I had problems with EMC a few years back when I was starting out and could never get it to work, but it has many happy users out there too.

[RC.CNCmaker]

I own and use a MyDIYCNC Bigfoot and love it. It's good value for the money and performs well. Perhaps 440Duster had their original model. They redesigned it earleir this year and went billet aluminum throughout. Mine is solid, well made and went together easily and quickly with their instructions. I'd say the most difficult part was the wiring but that came with a step-by-step guide so not too bad (and I just don't like wiring). When I bought mine in July there was nothing as complete in the price range. Most of the other systems like ShapeOko and the Fireball V90 were way more expensive when you added in the stuff supplied as standard with the MyDIYCNC, and I was concerned about piecing a system together myself. The complete MyDIYCNC system had it all worked out so I went that way.

Using it has been fun and they've been very helpful getting it dialed in. I use MeshCAM which I was surprised to find easy to use once you get into it. The early releases of FabCAm was a little shakey but they seem to have that ironed out, sort of the usual new software stuff I guess. I like working out my project, generating the GCode setting up the Bigfoot and leaving it to "cook" overnight on the CNC machine. Still get excited waking up in the morning to see how it turned out. I just saw this Instructable using a MyDIYCNC unit, so that may help: http://www.instructables.com/id/Create-a-wearable-Arc-Reactor/

[nlancaster]

You should also check out the CNC Mogul. CNC Mogul

I cannot speak for how good they are, but they look like a great value for a entry level CNC router. even a 4x4ft machine is only $1200. And there are many videos on youtube of them doing some apparently good work.

[mcmasterp]

Mydiycnc machine was almost worthless to me. I had to replace the spindle, the steppers, couplers, threaded rod, the drivers, the software, and the controller. I had to beef up the vertical frame, eliminate x slop, z slop, and y slop by adding aluminum angle and tubing. While i was at it i increased the work area in the x axis, the original work are for x and y was 12" by 14" respectively. I increased x to 30"