[maxydog]

So a note to anyone contemplating Chinese machines: They are fine if you do your homework..and learn from others who have already made the trek.

So I wanted value for my hard earned money and wanted a CNC but it turned out much better thanks to another person who gave his advice, from Montreal.

I searched the net, found many companies with great looking photos of CNC machines, I wanted also a Laser machine....but I would buy the CNC first...So off I went did my homework, and selected a company the first time, Boy what a mistake i made, lost my money on a bad machine...and sold it for parts.

Not giving up, I just learned my first lesson...you think you know but you don’t...i told myself quietly that i needed to find someone who has had a good experience. I did find this person in Canada, Montreal and he had a custom machine built and had purchased 6 of them over the last 2 years, very pleased and urged me to go to china....So I listened and spent the $1500 and went to Jinan.

I spent about 1 month in china going to 8 factories who build cnc and laser machines, So i selected Jinan XYZ to construct a 5x10 CNC and a 5x10 150watt laser, and spent a lot of time with the technicians and the owners of the various companies when i was there. I purchased the CNC & laser and can tell you they were well built as any American of Canadian machine, but the cost was 1\4 or less of what i was quoted in USA and Canada.I can tell you that the Chinese machines being up to standards is depending upon who you work with. China is surpassing North American machines dollar for dollar, sad to say this is business, I know it hurts the economy, but i have to work smart as an owner like you do....and get my moneys worth. So that out of the way.

I can tell you that the Chinese machines being up to standards is depending upon who you work with. China is surpassing North American machines dollar for dollar, sad to say this is business, I know it hurts the economy, but i have to work smart as an owner like you do....and get my moneys worth. So that out of the way...

I contacted the company that was suggested to deal with and spoke to lady named Ellie, who worked for Jinan XYZ Machinery LLC. Through our conversation i established she was not just a salesperson, she was very careful establishing what i wanted to cut and the sizes of my materials, as sheet goods in north America are 48x96 standard sizes, and many machines coming out of china we not giving you any addition table area, which is dicey sometimes when cutting, you want at-least 2-3 inches extra on the sides and ends for clearance of hold downs etc...

I want to mention that I do not work for the company or represent them in anyway financially. Just telling you my good and bad experiences.

This company was based in Jinan just outside of Beijing. Jinan is the capital for machinery or cnc and lasers. Lots of these companies i found had ads on the internet and looked very large....in the virtual world, but in reality they are just a couple of people sometimes acting as brokers and knew thing... really about the machines, make sure you don't fall for this.

The lessons i have learned over the last 20 years...will save you aggravation, and the biggest thing is COMMUNICATION in English or you will pull your hair out with hundreds of emails for a simple question you need answered.

The 10 commandments in my books
1-establish the size of the company..too small and you may wait for longer than promised and get a substandard machine in the end.
2 - The welds are super important to look at, as i had one machine that was horrible and it could not be salvaged..long story costly lesson.
3 - Ask for references...not one, not two but at least 5 based in North America only!
4- Pay close attention to the communications, if you ask a simple question and they can not understand it...it can get into a he said she said argument which will go nowhere. Be sure to clarify what they understand your asking or ordering.
5- Only give a 30% deposit and the balance be paid upon a copy of your original bill of lading, after If you can afford it before the machinery is shipped..try to inspect it prior to your final payment if you can, how ?...go there and fly to china. if your spending $10,000 or more i think another 1-2% more spent is good insurance and piece of mind, when it arrives..you know whats coming. I you can't fly to china ask your shipping company if you can see it try to look at whatever you can, is the crated damaged ?

I you can't fly to china ask your shipping company if you can see it once it arrives to the destination try to look at whatever you can is the crated damaged ? as this is common, your shipment has passed through many handlers with forklifts, and has been pushed and shoved since it arrival.

6- Is it painted or powder coated?..is it servo or stepper, i prefer servos. Is the hardware just a DSP or a real controller...?. is it windows based...make sure it is not a parallel breakout board. and is it net-workable if not, you will make many trips with a USB stick back and forth to your machines.

7- Best bet always, if your lucky like i was you will talk to someone who has had good experiences with an overseas supplier such as i did and have a Great Experience, if not its a shot in the dark always.

8-Try to get a gantry that is a minimum of 12" clearance underneath if its a CNC, mine is 16" and believe me i use it for large molds right down to 0.125 materials and never sorry i got the taller gantry. Too small and you will regret it...cost only a few hundred more. If your buying a laser Only the RECI TUBES nothing else...lasts 8-10K hours..with a warranty.

9-NO WATER COOLED spindles, HSD is the best, and some offer it as an extra, worth having also get the Chinese spindle that comes with the machine it will last a couple of years and then you can switch..over to a better one if you need to.

10 -Don’t just think you know i all and select a good looking company, it never hurts to ask someone who has had experience and has gone through all of the steps, and you will save a lot of heart ache. There are alot of machines for sale, and some of the advertiser are infact not manufactures, they are only brokers and really know nothing about the machines..So that is of the utmost importance...they will all say we manufacture...you need to establish that and dont go by looking at their website, as anyone can look big...I call it the wizard of Oz...he used a microphone and was hiding behind the curtians. So ask never just assume your an expert.


The CNC was constructed of steel, double walled on the upper gantry supports,and fully powder coated in my choice of colors. The frame is well constructed with good thick walled steel and all the weld are 100%, no fillers to hide anything, as welding is important, but sometimes not too good in china. The controller is all Yaskawa servo controllers, and a commercial control panel. i was impressed with the cleanliness of the offices and the 12 or so sales staff, i was introduced to and also met the owner Mr.Tony Peng. The factory is housed in about 40 thousand sq feet, it was the largest company that i had been to, and super organized it looked after see the others.

If you can imagine i saw about 100 machines all completed ready for shipping with tags of the destinations..this told me they had a following of repeat customers, and many repeats means happy customers. I felt they were well established which gave me confidence in both stability, and future purchases. So i committed to my CNC with them and they sat me down with the engineer and we made up my wish list....1.5 hrs later we were done. I was nervous but felt i was in the right place at the right time. If you can imagine i saw about 100 machines all completed ready for shipping with tags of the destinations..this told me they had a following of repeat customers, and many repeats means happy customers. I felt they were well established which gave me confidence in both stability, and future purchases. So i committed to my CNC with them and they sat me down with the engineer and we made up my wish list....1.5 hrs later we were done. I was nervous but felt i was in the right place at the right time.

After i was finished, i mentioned to Ellie that i was also contemplating a laser but wanted to find a good company she could suggest. and keep in mind i did not see one laser machine in this building...So Ellie tells me they have another factory that builds Laser machines....i wanted to see it also...So Tony Peng, and Miss Ellie Huang drove me to the factory and took me for a fantastic lunch...that day. So i would not be hungry they feed me noodles.

I’m now in their Laser factory and it is about 15,000 - 20,000 sq feet, about 8 technicians all working on various machines, Man i was so excited just seeing all of this in one place, they had optic fiber lasers, regular lasers, small desktop units and many large 5x10 or bigger ones. As i walked around i could see that each one had a build sheet and the country it was going to, i noticed about 8 machines going to the USA, but what was different was the logo on the machines...they were USA companies i looked them up and they were reselling the Jinan XYZ Machinery and say made or assembled in XXX country. All they really did is what im telling you to do, When machines sometimes say Assembled in North America, what was really done is the machine had the gantry removed in china and was layed down on the table top for shipping purposes only. Then when it arrives they bolt it back on and use this term so it sounds better for the consumer. Nothing wrong it's business..

So now down to the business and my experiences with this company Jinan XYZ Machinery, Tony Peng is the owner and a super nice guy i have to say, Im now explaining to Miss Huang that i want a laser to cut 1" of acrylic, we sit down and go everything in detail and then 1.5 hrs later we are finished, and i gave the 30% deposit as i felt 100% comfortable with this company and they showed the best out all the others i visited on my trip.

Now moving ahead in time, i leave Jinan and the staff is saying good bye after me being there everyday for 2 weeks being there at the factory. I was so excited just seeing how they manufactured all this stuff...amazing. Now back home in Canada i wait and my machine arrives in about 30 days, I get it delivered after i saw it at the freight company, and we unpack it all...as good as i saw it in China not a mark.

We start to plug it in and we are up and running each machine within one day.. Not one single problem, and it is now 5 months later or more and we have had a few adjustments done to the machines,,,and let me tell you this ...it was all done over the internet, as all the machines have full remote communications and that was big ! i requested adjustment to the servos and within a few hours we were contacted and one of their techs Johnny was changing the values in the software to improve the motion movements on the laser machine. Impressive as it was fixed and we were all smiling...as the after service we know is #1...and they came through 100%.

So i would recommend this company and they have many styles of machines if you care to look at them...or buy a machine you will not regret it..

My contact was:
Miss Ellie Huang
[email protected]

The full company is called:
Jinan XYZ Machinery LLC
www.xyz-tech.com

I will post picture of the first machine, when i thought i knew what to do, and that was a mistake...

Also i will posit photos of my other machines which were Great ! and never regretted it at all.....

[BuckeyenNJ]

Hi,

Read with interest your post on their machines,

I have one of their lasers and found it OK...the alignment of the bed was not good. After some struggles we have it running very nicely and they are responsive.

Now I am thinking about a CNC router and have been in contact with them. I want a 5 x 10 like yours, Servo drives, etc.

May I ask which model you bought and with what options?

[Treojohn]

Maxydog, great post, I sent you a PM because im in china now but not sure if you got it. Can you shoot me one? I would love to ask you a couple questions! thanks