[asteriskmonkey]

Hello, I wonder if anyone can aid me with this I am looking to buy a cnc in canada, it seems there is not alot here, and alot of people selling seem to be importing many variations of the 3040/6090 things from china.

I have a budget of 4k cad, thats about 3200usd.

I am looking for optimally 2x4. cutting area, this is for use by a retired machinist, it wont be a 24/7 machine, but it will be used for making intricate parts out of metal.. it will also use it for wood on occasion.

Ive seen alot of different things tailored to the hobbyist / maker (im begging to loathe that word) Things like the x-carve are out of the question, it has to be rigid. so not looking for some cheap crap or a kit made from wood or thin aluminum.

I like to look of the probotix ones with there dual drive, but since its in usa, import and shipping literally adds about 1500 :/ which makes it out of reach. If possible id also like a complete unit vs a box of parts, but thats not so important.

Can anyone make any suggestions please.

Thanks much.

[ger21]

What kind of metal are you talking about? Anything harder than aluminum will be out of the question.
And your budget is going to limit you to a fairly low end machine, where cutting aluminum will be slow work.

Check out XZero, who are in Toronto. Unfortunately, the owner is apparently having some health issues right now, so getting one might take a while.

[asteriskmonkey]

aluminum mainly, brass would be really nice, cutting speed is not really an issue as its not going to be used for production runs.
thanks Ill check out x-zero thanks.

[dddman]

Maybe them? Machine – INMotion CNC

[asteriskmonkey]

dont know if this is me being old schoold but i wont deal with a company that has no phone number on website, and sadly there package comes to 5k, 2k more and your into cancam territory.. (solid industrial ones)

[ger21]

Not sure what the relationship is, but they are somehow related to X Zero.

[shane-w]

I'm building a 4x8 INMOTION now. Nice machine. It is made by Xzero. I believe someone is helping with marketing. I ordered my by phone directly from George at Xzero. But like Gerry said he is recovering from some recent health problems.

[asteriskmonkey]

I'm building a 4x8 INMOTION now. Nice machine. It is made by Xzero. I believe someone is helping with marketing. I ordered my by phone directly from George at Xzero. But like Gerry said he is recovering from some recent health problems.

The large format stuff looks really nice from inmotion, heavy duty motors and all. hopefully I can get a hold of him at one point, got his voicemail yesterday and can work something out in cad $.

Alternatly I came across this last night

zenbot 4896 4x8 cnc router seems to be half the price since it appears to be using molded polyurathene gantry framing, not sure about any of that, I called them they said it dosnt flex but you a have to cut slow :/ anyone had experience with those ? seems half the price of the in motion/ georges units, but thats probably for a real glaring issue issue im guessing?

[ger21]

XZero/Inmotion is the lowest price point you'll find for the components you're getting.

Every single component on an XZero is far superor to the parts on the zenbot.
For double the price, you're getting 5-10x the machine.
It's hard to compare ballscrews to a 5/8" belt that drives the zenbot.
Or industrial quality linear rails vs the "proprietary" Zenbot system.

[kevinbe]

I've had a zenbot for a few years now and they are pretty good but can give some spotty results sometimes. I just bought an xzero machine for the reasons mentioned above. It seems great but I haven't been able to finish building it yet, as I'm waiting for George to send the rest of the set up instructions.

[asteriskmonkey]

I've had a zenbot for a few years now and they are pretty good but can give some spotty results sometimes. I just bought an xzero machine for the reasons mentioned above. It seems great but I haven't been able to finish building it yet, as I'm waiting for George to send the rest of the set up instructions.

The xzero looks like a really nice machine. good to know about the zenbot has spotty results, that would drive me insane and id hate to burn through expensive materials.

I think ive narrowed it down to

1) xzero raptor.
2) cncconversionkit.com (ive seen some very mixed reviews about this throughout the forum, they do have dual x drive though, something i didn't see on the small xzeros)
3) or attempting building my own. if its significantly less, that being said if difference comes out to be 500ish id rather go with a tested build than wasting time experimenting.

If anyone can chime in with some knowledge on the above choices that would be great.a 2x4 work area is my target requirement.

Thanks much everyone for sharing your thoughts and experience.

[asteriskmonkey]

i kinda narrowed my self down to xzero, but i hear the guy is out of commision, does anyone know if hes ok, and will be comming back?

[asteriskmonkey]

looks like xzero and inmotion are gone, anyone recommend anything else?

[dertsap]

since its in usa, import and shipping literally adds about 1500 :/ which makes it out of reach.

.

what are you basing that shipping price on . My 1400+lb mill costs 2 thirds of that . When the company was in Canada I paid $900 , now that they moved to the US , I was recently quoted the same price for freight . You'll pay taxes at the border or equally the same if bought within the country . The only difference is that you may need to tack on broker fees unless you file the paperwork yourself . The US has far better shipping rates (even on export ) than we can get to ship across country .

I think you'd be better off taking on the project of retrofitting a mill if you planning on cutting aluminum on a regular basis . I'm sure that as a retired machinist you can see the lack orf rigidity in those wood routers . The problem is your budget vs the work envelope that you want doesn't quite jive . I know this is smaller than you want but check out the king Canada KC-20VS-2 . A retro fit kit is around 700us and lets say 500 for electronics . It's within your budget and will most certainly cut aluminum reliably

[jipilabont]

just received my Kingcanada KC-20VS. during the waiting navigate much the internet to know next priority is belt driving of the shaft. Anyone could tell me where in Canada i could be informed on the subject"'?