[maxydog]

Hi My name is Jeff, AKA (Maxydog) longtime watcher of CNCZone.com I have been using CNC machines for almost 15 years now. I have purchased mostly north american machines, but now im taking a plunge into China. If you want to follow the conversation i have started a blog...not sure if thats the best place to post my journey but it was the only one i could start...not sure why but it there...

Hope to see you watch as it all unfolds of $25,000 being spent and a leap of trust and faith to find the right supplier....

so join me and we will all findout the outcome....

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/blogs/...ase_china.html

Maxydog

[wyl6362708]

Hi My name is Jeff, AKA (Maxydog) longtime watcher of CNCZone.com I have been using CNC machines for almost 15 years now. I have purchased mostly north american machines, but now im taking a plunge into China. If you want to follow the conversation i have started a blog...not sure if thats the best place to post my journey but it was the only one i could start...not sure why but it there...

Hope to see you watch as it all unfolds of $25,000 being spent and a leap of trust and faith to find the right supplier....

so join me and we will all findout the outcome....

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/blogs/...ase_china.html

Maxydog

Hi, Maxydog, what kind of machine do you want? for woodworking? demand on your budget, maybe a second had machine in America will be ok.

[CNC Mate]

if you want a good machine; than talk direct to fulltek;
fulltek is the chinese company of centek cnc machines

do not deal with the resellers of fulltek.

some centek machines are already in US manufacturing places.

i would not do a direct import;
i like to ring up a local phone number when i have a problem.

[romuros]

Hi

Did you manage to order machine? if so what did you order and for what price?
Sonik Graverstvo - Graviranje

[EBC]

this machine is on it's way to my shop...even with shipping/importation it is almost 5k cheaper than machine from states

[bellawyl]

Hi My name is Jeff, AKA (Maxydog) longtime watcher of CNCZone.com I have been using CNC machines for almost 15 years now. I have purchased mostly north american machines, but now im taking a plunge into China. If you want to follow the conversation i have started a blog...not sure if thats the best place to post my journey but it was the only one i could start...not sure why but it there...

Hope to see you watch as it all unfolds of $25,000 being spent and a leap of trust and faith to find the right supplier....

so join me and we will all findout the outcome....

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/blogs/...ase_china.html

Maxydog

Hi, this is Bella from Fulltek Machtronics Co.,Ltd. & Jinan Quick CNC Router Co.,Ltd. We are the direct manufacturer and supply all kinds of CNC machines. Please contact me if you have any inquiry. Thanks.

[email protected]
skype: bella_wyl
msn: [email protected]

[bellawyl]

if you want a good machine; than talk direct to fulltek;
fulltek is the chinese company of centek cnc machines

do not deal with the resellers of fulltek.

some centek machines are already in US manufacturing places.

i would not do a direct import;
i like to ring up a local phone number when i have a problem.

Hi, this is Bella from Fulltek Machtronics Co.,Ltd. & Jinan Quick CNC Router Co.,Ltd. Fulltek has cooperated with Jinan Quick to produce 'Fulltek' series machines. We appreciate that you like our centek series machines, we are the direct manufacturer and supply all kinds of CNC machines. Please contact me if you have any inquiry. Thanks.

[email protected]
skype: bella_wyl
msn: [email protected]

[g29cc]

Do yourself a favor, but a used INDUSTRIAL machine locally, dump $10,000 into it and you'll have a million times better machine then you will get from any China company.

Not to mention you can buy real parts for it, you'll know its good because you rebuilt it yourself.

But if you want a machine you will be rebuilding all the time, can't get good parts for and are constantly battling it to make it run properly.... well then buy a China machine. I have a few myself, and I wish I would have bought a used Haas and dumped money into that instead of buying the machines I did buy.

One is a fairly good machine. But its not what its made out to be by the seller. The second ( is a cnc router ) was a total pile of crap assembled by a monkey with a broken tap and a 2 lb sledge hammer, wired by a blind old man and sold by unknowledgeable sales staff ( of course they can help when your getting ready to buy, but just wait till the money is in their hands! ).

But don't take my word for it. Read through the forums here and see what others say.

1 Those that are hobbyist's or garage businesses, will buy china machines and deal with the problems.

2 Those that are legitimate businesses will buy legitimate machines and not deal with companies that can NOT supply parts or information on the machine they produce and sell.

Choose which path you want to walk. If you have money to throw away on a continuing basis, buy a China machine. If you want something that will last a life time, then buy a good quality machine.

Todd

[PlasGeoff]

Hi All,
I think it is unfair and unwise to label a whole industry in any country as being bad, because of some bad experiences.
Yes there have been problems, thanks for your input, it has helped me decide who not to go with.
If I got burnt I would also like to warn people, but lets keep it in perspective, there are risks with any purchase.
For would be purchasers I suggest a good balanced read through these pages, it is not all doom and gloom!
If I lived in America I certainly would have looked at the local market, however being where I am the Chinese option worked best for me.
For all the horror stories, others have been more than happy with their purchases.

All the best
Geoff

[g29cc]

Well my point is that buying a marginal hobby machine vs a solid based reputable industrial machine is my word of wisdom.

If you don't mind fixing and repairing a machine constantly then the cheaper bargin basement machines can be the way to go. If you only use it as a marginal hobby type machine and not for business, then you might be very happy with such a machine.

But the bottom line is and will always be.... cheap isn't good and good isn't cheap.

I ve learned my lesson NUMEROUS times buy machines that I could only "afford" at the time, to only learn that if I would have waited and spent the money wisely I could have had a better machine and better product all the way around.

Thanks
Todd

[PlasGeoff]

Equally, locally made and expensive does not guarantee trouble free.
My point is that you should not label a whole Countries companies as incapable of producing anything of quality and being difficult, it is simply not the case, and not the domain of China alone!
I agree with your last post, as you dropped the reference to an individual Country.
In this global world I really do value your input, through this forum to worldwide companies I should avoid, but whole countries, i can make that decision.

Thanks
Geoff

[g29cc]

Geoff,
I understand. I can only relate that anything I have bought made in China, has been inferior in every way to its better made sibling coming from countries like Germany Poland USA etc. The price tag also comes with that quality.
With that said, its not that some of my China machines work or dont work. They just don't work as well as a good industrial machine would.
Support wise, I think across the board you will find ZERO support from any China company. Your going to be digging into CNC zone looking for answers if you have any questions and concerns.
Again this is going off my experience of having bought a BUNCH of china/overseas equipment. Tawian Vietnam, anything like that has been a nightmare to get information or support on. But buying anything German , Polish USA made, I have been able to pick up a phone an talk to a person or company and get the information I needed.

So the bottom line is, if you buy cheap, regardless of where it comes from, expect low support to no support, hard to find or obsolete parts etc. If you spend the money, its not that your spending it on a better material in the machine ( which it probably still is ) but your spending money for down the road support and service ability.

Just keep that in mind.

Todd

[jasonharris22]

Geoff,
I understand. I can only relate that anything I have bought made in China, has been inferior in every way to its better made sibling coming from countries like Germany Poland USA etc. The price tag also comes with that quality.

I will be ordering a new router soon and I have had quotes from a few different suppliers. Some quotes vary a lot in price for something that looks on the surface to be similar. Some people have had very good experiences that happen to coincide with the more expensive machines that look the same from the outside.

So what made you choose JCut? Did you base it on price? Did you get a quote from another supplier that may have charged you $1k more and decide to get the 'same' machine for cheaper?

I have a few relatively expensive machines that are at a price point above the crap 'get what you pay for'.

I know that you can pay either $2k or $3k for what looks to be the same thing on the outside but that extra $1k is giving you $1k of value.

I think you can get good quality for lower prices than american or european but you still have to be smart and outlay enough $$ to ensure you're too good to be true deal was in fact good enough.

[CNC Mate]

i would not order any machine which i have not seen working!
it is worth to travel and see the machines;
the best thing is, if you have a look in your own country. visit the places where the imported ones are.
talk to their users.............
only so you will find out what you get for your money!

or what you should not buy!

and also find out what the local dealers offer;
how are their machines build, (what components they use)
find out what parts are really necessary in your cnc machine; requirements of quality standards.............

therefore i selected a local company for my small company's cnc machine supply.

the installation was done by them. in a couple of days we had a working machine and software. and since than, we cut and drill our kitchens and other products at the cnc nesting machine.

may be we paid twice the price as a good china direct import.

but therefore i can ring them up and in minutes i get help to fix a small problem at machine or software. if that is a problem that i can not fix, than they send out the new part or technician
the machine will be fixed in less than 24 hours.
and we do not have expensive unproductiv time for days.

For the Australian people, i can only recommend that they spend hours researching at upcoming AWISA 11 - 14 July 2012 in Sydney

[g29cc]

I have to agree with the above post. If you can't physically see the machine running, then your at a huge disadvantage.

I saw "a" machine running in a video sent to me. But I wouldn't believe it again. As my machine was wired incorrectly and wouldn't operate from the get go. So how it magically rewired itself after the video I don't know.

But hands down investigate your machine your looking at. If again your a hobbyist, you are totally getting what you paid for or less. So if you don't research and buy a cheap pile of crap, then so be it.

Todd

[a306384871]

Once i attended a exhibition in china,their product was so cheap that i could buy 2or 3machines with the same cost in my country ,although cheap machine ,low quality ,but 3 machines the efficiency can be improved a lot,and it is really a long time to run out the 3 machines, busides,there are still some good companies in china ,i advise you can search in google :laser cutting machine,I bought 5 laser machines from Yueming laser,their service seems good,i bought 2 laser tubes from china in case of some of them are broken,you know,24 h work seems not good for the machine!

[jasonharris22]

I, personally, would be hesitant to buy over seas like that. I bought my plasma table locally, USA, and they had onsite installation and training. I would rather pay a little more and have that customer service if need be. Hope that table worked out for you tho!

I can't disagree about getting something locally if you can but one of the key points about buying from china is that phrase 'I would rather pay a little more'.

Most of the time it is not a little more, it is a lot more and can be over 100% more. That makes it not just a decision of should I pay a bit for for security but a decision of can I have this machine or not.

You could say I got lucky with the laser I imported but I think not, I went with a company that had already had some sales with good results. I got better than I expected as the fit and finish was more than I thought I may get and the mechanics and electrical was excellent.

It wont be too long before there wil be some established chinese companies selling overseas that wont give people that insecure feeling about buying from them.

I am about to buy another router next week froma company I have not dealt with before. Yes, my fingers are crossed but I think it will be OK and I will report back in another thread the good, the bad and the ugly.

[Ajancnc]

You are using CNC machines for almost so many years. So I can say you have a more idea than others. Why are you doing experiment in this? Even if you buy machine from you country then you can get far better service than any other.
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CNC Plasma Cutting Machine