[Willy_Wonka_1]

Hi All,

I'm just begining to get into hobby CNC routering but am a complete novice.
I was wondering if someone could point me in the right direction.

I am after a machine that I can use at home, a reasonable size working table (600mm width) and software that is compatable with Adobe Illustrator.
The primary use of the machine will be to cut shapes / letters into 3 - 18 mm MDF.

I have been looking at entry level machines on ebay as well as Carbatec Shark Pro plus but at $6000 is a lot of money for a novice.

I am in desperate need of help as I dont want to make a costly mistake.

I currently router all my shapes by hand but it is a time consuming / messy affair, hence the change of direction.

Any assitance would be appreciated.

Thanks

[aarggh]

600mm cutting width is probably a bit of an issue, it pushes you up into the heavier capacity range of machines, all of which won't leave you much change out of $3500-$6000, for a fairly good one that is.

I'd have a think about what it is your trying to cut, and especially as your starting out then see if one of the cheap Chinese 3040 or 6040 machines would do? They will come with a crap controller most likely (search the forums for tb6560), so I'd recommend buying a Gecko G540 on top of the machine to really get some good performance out of it and just increase the overall reliability. The $300 the G540 costs might seem a lot, but it truly is an investment you'll appreciate almost immediately!

These machines are mass produced and marketed to a price point, and really aren't too bad at all once you scrap the rubbish controller that comes with them, and make some small, quality enhancing adjustments. As they are open ended (unlimited length materials) I'd suspect one of these would keep you happy for some time as it sounds like you'd be doing signs, and shouldn't set you back more than around $1800 all up, and will give you a greater experience of CNC as you go to make a more informed decision for when you want to upgrade later!

cheers,
Ian

[Willy_Wonka_1]

Thanks for the advice, I was rushed away on Military duties and have been unable to respond.
I have taken a look on ebay at the models you have suggested and am wondering what kind of software to buy to go with it.
I have tried the Vector Vcarve pro 6 - found it very easy to navigate & use and will accept designs from illustrator, I'm just not sure if it will work with the 6040 CNC?
Any suggetsions?

Cheers

[rthorntn]

I hope I can help here.

I just bought the CNC 6040, the issue you have is not the compatibility of vcarve with the 6040, it goes like this:

illustrator >> vcarve >> mach3 or emc2 >> cnc controller >> cnc steppers

So the compatibility you are interested in is:

Can vcarve send gcode to mach3 or emc2 - Yes it can
Can mach3 or emc2 talk to my cnc controller - Yes it can (I replaced the cheap chinese cnc controller with a G540 kit from Homann)

Hopefully that makes sense.

Cheers
Richard

[aarggh]

Sorry for somehow missing the next set of questions, which Richard answered anyway.

To expand on what Richard mentioned, Mach3 and EMC2 are (I would safely assume anyway) the most commonly used CNC control applications around. I personally prefer Mach3, which is not to say EMC2 is bad at all, just a personal preference, but it's whatever floats your boat. One of the really, really cool plugins for Mach3 (maybe EMC2 does the same?) is the auto-zero function for the three axis! Once you've been using the machine for a while, you'll definately be wanting that feature I can assure you. My main one unfortunately isn't setup for mach3 and it's a real PITA!

Vectric for your CAD/CAM modelling and creating the gcode you'll definately be happy with. I'm amazed at what a great and simple to use product it is, and so capable of reasonably complex designs.

This site has some basic but good info on the various CAD/CAM flows with heaps of useful links:
KCam, EMC2, Mach3, TurboCNC,and other CNC related software links.

As I mentioned before, the controller that comes with the x0x0 series machines from China all invariably come with the TB6560 controller, which no doubt you will have trouble with, and you should factor in a Gecko G540 which will make it fly! Very easy to wire up too. Also, as it has a built in parallel port interface card, you'll not have the worry you would with the one shipped with the TB6560 controller.

Cheers,
Ian