Hi All,
My brother and I are looking for a cnc machine on a limited budget for some prototype work - mostly cutting wood & plastic, but possibly some light aluminum. I've been researching the Chinese built 6040 and 6090 machines and would really appreciate some guidance! We were hoping to get a 1.5KW spindle (or better) based mill for around 1 to 1.5K USD.

We would prefer a unit ready to run, but many warn that the motion controllers are pretty terrible (black box, blue box, etc). Do any companies offer good controllers with these yet, or is the best route still to buy one and retrofit it with a G540 or Leadshine controller? Would it be too ambitious to try to buy a frame and source all the components ourselves? We would like to get up and running as soon as possible, but not at the cost of having to replace inadequate or dead components later.

Also - I found this machine from "Jinan Blue Elephant CNC Machinery Co.,Ltd" on Allibaba.com. Is anyone familiar with this company? It looks like a decent deal but It's a little over our intended budget, and like anything on Ali - it's only good if the seller is reputable.

Here is a list of my notes from various posts here. Any comments welcome:

  • 6040 "z" denotes ball screws, which are superior, correct?
  • Quote from JohnDeere630: "I don't use USB to control steppers because USB is not a real-time protocol. I use the parallel port because it is a real-time system"
    • Is this true? Has anyone experience this issue with USB?

  • What is a list of components needed to complete a 6040 frame?
    • Spindle: Prefer 1.5 or 2.2KW water cooled
    • Variable Frequency Drive (NES1?)
    • Power supply - should be 48w or higher
    • Stepper Drive (like G540, but preferably USB like a Leadshine MX3660 or MX4660)
    • Motion Controller (UC100)
    • Shielded cables
    • Mach 3 or LinuxCNC? (Are these compatible with USB?)
    • Add limit switches
    • Cables should be grounded at the controller end and on both ends for the spindle<->VFD to earth the mill frame.


This site has been an unbelievably great resource of information for me, and any help/advice/input from all the knowledgeable folks here would be greatly appreciated!

Danny