[mwhatch]

After many weeks of research, thinking, and looking online, I finally made the decision to buy a cnc router. I was looking at two models. The Zenbot 1216, and the Fireball V90. They are very similar in size and price. the main difference is the belt drive on the Zenbot and the screw drive on the V90. After much pondering, and waiting for the weather to warm up a little, I chose the Zenbot. There was not much information online, but what I did find was all positive. I was intrigued by the belt drive and the fact that I did not have to assemble the whole thing. I bought it off of Ebay instead of ordering on their web page, thinking they had it ready to ship, but I was wrong, they still have to build it for me. But that is okay, because I had not decided yet whether to get another computer or buy the SmoothStepper and use my laptop. I finally decide to get another computer so I would not add to the learning process. I was starting to get desperate, I was afraid the machine would arrive before I had the computer ready. I finally found an HP Celeron 1.6 with a 15 inch LCD for 50 dollars, plus 9 dollars for a new keyboard. After reinstalling XP, I installed Mach3 and ran the test. It tested out "excellent" even though it was using onboard video.
So now I have the computer, a bosch colt, and some bits. Now all I need is the Zenbot 1216. When I get the Zenbot, I will ramble on some more. Meanwhile, I will just keep thinking of more cool things I will be able to make when the time comes.

mwhatch

[krak]

So how long did it take to get the zenbot? How do you like it so far?

[mwhatch]

It took just about 2 weeks.

I am glad you asked because I have been plannig to review it a little.
I had to bolt the gantry to the frame, 8 bolts. Install my bosch colat and it was ready to run. I downloaded the mach3 cofiguration file from the Zenbot website and it immediatley came to life. As soon as I got it moved to the garage, I was cutting. The Y axis was a little sloppy at first, but I just needed to tighten the drive belt. Yes, this router is belt driven. NO BACKLASH.

I am very happy with this machine. The support is great.

I have some photos and videos I would like to share in the near future.

Thanks
Morton Hatch

[krak]

That is good to hear. Have you added any home or limit switches to the setup?

[mwhatch]

I have not put any switches in it yet, I want to get some help from support before I do that.

Do you have one, or one on the way. What Size? My only regret is not getting a bigger one, but that was a financial issue.

mwhatch

[krak]

I do not have one. I built my own based on some plans I bought from David Steel. It is ok, but not ridged enough to work on anything other than foam. I was hoping it would be strong enough to make parts for a bigger machine. This will not be the case. So I am considering buying a small machine like the 1216, to make the parts for a larger machine. What size do you think you would want, if you could get a bigger one?

[mwhatch]

I would like a "Y" axis of 36 to 48 inches. I want to be able to cut some of those nice wild life mantle pieces.

mwhatch

[krak]

I was thinking of something in that size as well. At least for the machine I wanted to build. It is not even an option for zenbot. Are you able to work with the 12-16 for most of your projects? Now you have me thinking about buying a big zenbot.

[so4507]

I have been looking into getting a zenbot and am curious as to the reliable life of it. Is yours still running well? I intend to use it for cutting thermoplastic rubber on a daily basis for continuous periods of time.

[mwhatch]

Mine is still running good. I have run some g-code files over 200,000 lines in lenght, almost 2 hours without trouble.

I did have an issue with the z-axis dropping, but it turned out that I had to much running in the background on my computer. Once I stopped all of that, I had no more problems.

After 6 months, I am still very happy with it.

mwhatch

[Neil-R]

Mine is still running good. I have run some g-code files over 200,000 lines in lenght, almost 2 hours without trouble.

<snip>

After 6 months, I am still very happy with it.

mwhatch

As with many others I read here, I'm totally new to the CNC end of engraving/routing. I too have been looking at the Zenbot 1216. My interests lie in producing (hobby level) wooden signboards possibly using v-carve software and also small (engravers) brass plaques. Would you consider the zenbot 1216 to be rugged enough for the wooden sign work and also be accurate for fine engraving on brass?

The one feature of the zenbot that bothers me slightly is the actual build quality. The fact that it is constructed from HDPE ( a type of plastic I believe?). One other general question I have is what would be a suitable router to use with the machine. From reading up I find that it is common for routers to run the bearings due to continuous running. Are there any that would be more suited to the work I intend to be doing.

From all the relatively low cost machines I have investigated (many on ebay) I still keep coming back to the Zenbot.

Sorry for the rambling questions but I have so many at present and it's a steep learning curve.

Neil

[mwhatch]

I have be cutting some 3d models on mine. I ran some purpleheart, which is very hard and dense and it did just fine.

Don't let he use of the HDPE fool you. That plastic is hard and heavy, and is not affectd by heat and humidity as MDF might be.

I have the Vcarve software from Vectric. It runs great on the Zenbot.

As far as accuracy goes, the Zenbot has a grid of 48 threaded inserts in the table. They are spaced at 2.25 inches apart in the x and y directions. I can do a drill pattern of however many holes I need to hold part down and not have any trouble getting a bolt in each hole.

If I were to do any engraving, and this would be the case with any hobby CNC, I would add a spoil board and face it off with a large flat cutter.

I have seen where may people use the Zenbot for PCB engraving with good results.

I use the Bosch Colt. I bought a rebuilt one from CPO Bosch. This is probably the most popular spindle motor for hobby cnc.

I also bought the precision collet Set from Precise Bits. I am not sure I really needed them, but I did need a 1/8th collet. I have seen now that there are some a little cheaper that may have done me just fine.

Enough rambling.

Hope this helps

mwhatch

[Neil-R]

I have be cutting some 3d models on mine. I ran some purpleheart, which is very hard and dense and it did just fine.

Don't let he use of the HDPE fool you. That plastic is hard and heavy, and is not affectd by heat and humidity as MDF might be.

I have the Vcarve software from Vectric. It runs great on the Zenbot.

As far as accuracy goes, the Zenbot has a grid of 48 threaded inserts in the table. They are spaced at 2.25 inches apart in the x and y directions. I can do a drill pattern of however many holes I need to hold part down and not have any trouble getting a bolt in each hole.

If I were to do any engraving, and this would be the case with any hobby CNC, I would add a spoil board and face it off with a large flat cutter.

I have seen where may people use the Zenbot for PCB engraving with good results.



Hope this helps

mwhatch

Yes, a great help, thanks. It seems then that the HDPE framework would be fine. I'd like to do some 3d stuff but I guess that's a little further down the line. I'd imagine the job file (g-code?) for anything detailed in 3d is fairly large and could take quite a long time to complete. Do you have a photograph of a 3d piece you've produced and an indication of how long it took to complete.

The degree of accuracy I was referring to was the cutter movement. If possible I would like to do some very small detailed work (in addition to the larger work) - perhaps jewellery size where perhaps a circle would be as small as one or two mm dia. I'd expect this would need to be done on a smaller/ more delicate machine, but without ever having had my hands on one of these machines it's difficult to guess. What would you say?

Good advice re the spoil board - filed for future use!


Many thanks for all the feedback - much appreciated.

Neil

[mwhatch]

Neil, and anyone else that may be interested.

Some links to the Vectric forum showing some of the things I have done with my Zenbot and Vectric software.

http://www.vectric.com/forum/viewtop...&hilit=mwhatch
http://www.vectric.com/forum/viewtop...&hilit=mwhatch
http://www.vectric.com/forum/viewtop...&hilit=mwhatch
http://www.vectric.com/forum/viewtop...&hilit=mwhatch

Hope this helps.
mwhatch

[Neil-R]

Neil, and anyone else that may be interested.

Some links to the Vectric forum showing some of the things I have done with my Zenbot and Vectric software.

http://www.vectric.com/forum/viewtop...&hilit=mwhatch
http://www.vectric.com/forum/viewtop...&hilit=mwhatch
http://www.vectric.com/forum/viewtop...&hilit=mwhatch
http://www.vectric.com/forum/viewtop...&hilit=mwhatch

Hope this helps.
mwhatch

Excellent work! Very nice and very detailed too. Thanks for that mwhatch, it's the sort of examples that give me the confidence in the zenbot to be able to turn out large and small (detailed) work.

One or two terms on the vectric forum links that I'm completely unaware of: what is meant by 'stepover'. Is this something that needs to be calculated for each job?

Thanks again,
Neil

[mwhatch]

HI Neil,

"Stepover" is how far you want the cutter to move over each time it makes a cut. For final finishes, you want 10% or less of the cutter diameter. The smaller the percentage the better the quality and the longer it takes. So you need to determine the best setting for a particular job. For rough cutting, you may want to set the stepover to 50% ir greater.

Just keep searching forums like this one and others like the Vectric forum for questions or terms you are not familiar with.

They really helped me get started.

Hope this helps.
Morton Hatch

[cabnet636]

i teach stepover like this, look at mowing the yard, stepover is the amount the mower covers over the last pass in order to have a complete cut.

hence with a ballnose or round end bit the stepover for a complete cut it would probably be a 10% or less "stepover"

for a endmill i go to 40-45% stepover (material removal) to go beyound 50% can cause mucho heat and hence shorten the life of a bit.

see you on vectric!

[Neil-R]

HI Neil,

"Stepover" is how far you want the cutter to move over each time it makes a cut. For final finishes, you want 10% or less of the cutter diameter. The smaller the percentage the better the quality and the longer it takes. So you need to determine the best setting for a particular job. For rough cutting, you may want to set the stepover to 50% ir greater.

Just keep searching forums like this one and others like the Vectric forum for questions or terms you are not familiar with.

They really helped me get started.

Hope this helps.
Morton Hatch

Ah, simple Thanks very much for that. Perhaps I should have mentioned at the beginnig this CNC stuff is completely new to me. Plenty experience in IT, design and manual engraving - but not the actual CAM part of it all, so I'm doing as much reading as possible. CNCzone has been the most helpful, both in volume of content and very helpful experienced users I've found anywhere - it's much appreciated.

I'm pretty much sold on the Zenbot 2416. I'll let you all know how things go once I've had time to get it all up and running.

Thanks again.
Neil

[Neil-R]

i teach stepover like this, look at mowing the yard, stepover is the amount the mower covers over the last pass in order to have a complete cut.

hence with a ballnose or round end bit the stepover for a complete cut it would probably be a 10% or less "stepover"

for a endmill i go to 40-45% stepover (material removal) to go beyound 50% can cause mucho heat and hence shorten the life of a bit.

see you on vectric!

James - thanks for the expalanation. As I say I'm totally to the CAM part of this so the terminology is all new to me. Most of the time I don't even know what questions I should be asking
I don't have a machine yet, but once I have one up and running I guess I'll find plenty real work experience questions to ask. I'll shoot over to vetric now...

Cheers,
Neil

[mwhatch]

Thanks James.

Your input is greatly appreciated here as well as the Vectric site.
I have been cutting wood on cnc now for about 6 months. I have learned a lot from you and the other regular contributors.

Morton Hatch