[bees]

I am looking to pick up my first machine so I can mill some bike parts out of aluminum. I'm currently living in Toronto, Ontario.

I learned how to use CNC machines in school and have built a few 3d printers. I have priced out some chinese machines and they seem like a great value compared to what I could make myself.

I have been looking at 6040 based machines in the $2000-4000 shipped range.

I have found lots of decent reviews here on the X6 1500GT machine from X6-1500 - carving-cnc.com

This 580x380x60mm cutting area machine is $1,914 + $424 shipping for a total of $2,338.

I am also interested in this machine from stepmores:
High Precision cnc machine 6060M(600*600mm), View cnc machine, stepmores Product Details from Jinan Chentuo Industry And Trade Co., Ltd. on Alibaba.com

I can't find any reviews on it, seems to be a modified 6040 design that's a little wider with oil cooling support(?) and covered linear rods.

The base 6060m is $2600 (plus ~$500 shipping I assume) with a 600x600x120mm cutting area. I can upgrade the spindle to 2.2kw and they offer a mach3 usb card, both of which are an extra $200-300 I'm assuming. I will update when they reply with some pricing for those things.

I mostly want to do small runs of aluminum parts for personal projects, but would like to try cutting some steel too if that's possible. I don't mind cutting slow and watching the machine (something I've learned to do with the 3d printer to achieve the highest quality). I also don't mind spending an extra $1000 for the stepmores machine if it's higher quality and more suited for working on metal.

Does anyone know anything about the stepmores machine? Any idea if I should be looking for the 2.2kw motor for working on metal or will 1.5kw be sufficient?

Is there a difference in accuracy between the larger and smaller machines? I will be cutting some sprockets so if a smaller machine provides more accuracy because the parts deflect less that might be better for me.

Any other advice is appreciated! Thanks

[joeybagadonuts]

B.S.,

This may be a better option:

viperxz

George may even build you one to your dimensions and save you some piasse.
You could buy a few doughnuts with the extra money.


JoeyB

[bees]

I got some more details from stepmores. The 6060m comes with the water drain for cutting with oil and end-stops.

I can get the 2.2kw spindle upgrade for $200, and both machines already come with the mach 3 usb card.

shipping by sea is $200 to the port.

That viperxz machine looks fantastic but for $3000 I can get the 6060m with upgraded spindle shipped, which seems like a better deal.

Stepmores has a large variety of machines but I can't find any review for any of their offerings. Anyone hear anything regarding the quality/support of their machines?

[joeybagadonuts]

B.S.,

Bee careful purchasing from a unknown vendor you may get stung in the a$$.
I understand you don'ut want to hear someone say you'll bee sorry, butt I told you so.

Joey Bee

[awerby]

Did they tell you those routers could machine steel? And you believed them? The most rigid gantry routers can deal with aluminum (somewhat). None of them are any good for cutting steel. If metals are really what you want to cut, look at mills, not routers. They are different machines made for a different purpose.

Andrew Werby
www.computersculpture.com

[bees]

Nah, no one told me I could machine steel, I was wondering if that would be possible with slower parameters.

I saw a video here of someone milling steel on a 3020 router: CNC 3020 metal milling - YouTube

Assuming it's built with similar thickness rods & side panels, a 3020 machine being smaller should flex less and be more suitable for steel, right?

99% of the work I want to do will be in aluminum, I would like to try cutting some sheet steel but if the machine can't do it then I'd rather take it to a shop that can or (eventually) buy a machine that can.

I've looked around for chinese mills but I always seem to get results for the gantry style machines, after seeing this 6060m offering from stepmores advertised as metal ready and coming with a water drain, I thought it could be a good option but I'm glad I came here for some advice.

I did some more looking around just now and found that I can get an MD001 mill clone for under $3000 very close to where I live from these guys:
https://www.machinetoolswarehouse.co...cat=253&page=1

Performing the conversion to CNC is well within my abilities and would be a fun project, so now this mill is on the short list.

What do you guys think?

[jalessi]

Nah, no one told me I could machine steel, I was wondering if that would be possible with slower parameters.

I saw a video here of someone milling steel on a 3020 router: CNC 3020 metal milling - YouTube

Assuming it's built with similar thickness rods & side panels, a 3020 machine being smaller should flex less and be more suitable for steel, right?

99% of the work I want to do will be in aluminum, I would like to try cutting some sheet steel but if the machine can't do it then I'd rather take it to a shop that can or (eventually) buy a machine that can.

I've looked around for chinese mills but I always seem to get results for the gantry style machines, after seeing this 6060m offering from stepmores advertised as metal ready and coming with a water drain, I thought it could be a good option but I'm glad I came here for some advice.

I did some more looking around just now and found that I can get an MD001 mill clone for under $3000 very close to where I live from these guys:
https://www.machinetoolswarehouse.co...cat=253&page=1

Performing the conversion to CNC is well within my abilities and would be a fun project, so now this mill is on the short list.

What do you guys think?

Bee's,

Excellent choice you will be very happy with a MD001 mill, tell Pat I said hello.

Jeff...

[gio666]

I got some more details from stepmores. The 6060m comes with the water drain for cutting with oil and end-stops.

I can get the 2.2kw spindle upgrade for $200, and both machines already come with the mach 3 usb card.

shipping by sea is $200 to the port.

That viperxz machine looks fantastic but for $3000 I can get the 6060m with upgraded spindle shipped, which seems like a better deal.

Stepmores has a large variety of machines but I can't find any review for any of their offerings. Anyone hear anything regarding the quality/support of their machines?

Those machines including the Viper machine would not be much good if doing aluminum. The Viper machine has 30mm rails and could do aluminum at slow speed. But you can cut fast if not worried about finish. The Raptor machines cut aluminum very easy because of profile rails and HD braced backing plate

Demon - YouTube

[bees]

Thanks again for the great suggestions, I found an X2 mill locally that has been pre-modified with a cnc fusion kit, currently setting it up