After searching and not seeing one I thought we needed a thread for places to source components to build CNC machines from.

Linear rail and various other "CNC interesting parts" suppliers I've found (at "reasonable" cost) rino (http://www.rino.co.uk) and ondrive (http://www.ondrive.com) I'll add more later.

You call those two "Reasonable cost"?
£9.00 for the cheapest bearing and £1400 yes $2700 for a short linear carriage and ball screw.

PR.

Dear Kipper,

Thanks for starting the thread. Excellent idea.

Here are some more..

motors and drives www.motioncontrolproducts.com
linear motion and leadscrew machining www.marchantdice.com
linear motion, couplings,power transmission www.huco.com

(The first two have shops on UK ebay)

For small components, US ebay is well worth a look because the shipping costs can be quite modest.

VXB on US ebay has a shop that does a shedload of all different types of bearings, including angular contacts.


Best wishes,

Martin

With the dollar so low against the pound its really worth ordering what you can from the states. Servos, encoders, drives etc are all very expensive to source new, and can be found for next to nothing on ebay.

If your after something to convert, axminster stock quite a lot of the sieg machines:
www.axminster.co.uk

With the dollar so low against the pound its really worth ordering what you can from the states. Servos, encoders, drives etc are all very expensive to source new, and can be found for next to nothing on ebay.

If your after something to convert, axminster stock quite a lot of the sieg machines:
www.axminster.co.uk

Dear Daedalus,

You are absolutely right, but the shipping costs from the US for large or heavy items can stiff you. In many cases, sellers simply will not entertain the idea of shipping outside North America.

For items that can fit in a small package, the deal is a lot better. Oh,yes...the really best bit is that they usually slip into the country without attracting duty or VAT. It's almost worth paying a bit more for that satisfaction....

On the subject of rip-off Britain.... I wanted to buy some loudspeaker drive units made by a Danish manufacturer. They have distributors in the UK. After investigating prices in the US, it turns out that if you buy from their US distributors and pay all the shipping, import duties and VAT, the total cost is less than that of buying from the UK distributors. Those drive units will have made two transatlantic journeys, compared to a hop across the Nort Sea..

Madness.

Best wishes,

Martin

Did you guys check out Misumi UK, I believe they are in Milton-Keynes.
They have good service here in Canada. I am not sure how the pricing compares.

Electronics http://www.rapidonline.com/home.aspx

Definitely worth looking to European countries and doing European Union searches on Ebay.
http://cnc-plus.de/index.php

Most important thing in my opinion is shop around; at least one link on this thread is well over priced. I have found same items at less than half their prices but will not mention names.

Don’t get me started on rip off Britain; I am seriously considering emigrating!

John

You call those two "Reasonable cost"?
£9.00 for the cheapest bearing and £1400 yes $2700 for a short linear carriage and ball screw.

PR. You can make it your mission to find those items cheaper! Some of the items they stock are 3 times longer and are less £'s than the second hand ones sell for on ebay... Always look closely at things ie Browse the RS catalogue and then find a cheaper supplier to buy the same thing from. www.automotion.co.uk (http://www.automotion.co.uk/index.htm) Allsorts there. Fenner (http://www.fennerprecision.com/) For all manner of belts.

I have found same items at less than half their prices but will not mention names.

Don’t get me started on rip off Britain; I am seriously considering emigrating!

John

Dear John,

Go on man, do tell!

By the way, Denmark and the UK are both in the EU for Heaven's sake.

Best wishes,

Martin

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aufnahme-fuer-Fraesspindel-43mm-CNC-Kress-Bosch-Alu_W0QQitemZ180130537349QQihZ008QQcategoryZ32893QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Kress-43mm-Motor-Mount-52mm-centres_W0QQitemZ280120212239QQihZ018QQcategoryZ64819QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

John

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aufnahme-fuer-Fraesspindel-43mm-CNC-Kress-Bosch-Alu_W0QQitemZ180130537349QQihZ008QQcategoryZ32893QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Kress-43mm-Motor-Mount-52mm-centres_W0QQitemZ280120212239QQihZ018QQcategoryZ64819QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

John

Dear John,

Thank-you very much for that.

Best wishes

Martin

I have ordered heavy items such as linear rails and servos from abroad on ebay and even with postage it can be a huge saving.

Also there are companies in the US that offer remailing services. I didnt have to use one in the end, but several that advertise on the internet offer to remail your goods whilst marking their customs value as 40% of the cost (wholesale price). On expensive goods they pay for themselves in customs charges (although i have no idea about the legality of their service.

In Uk which suppliers have people been using for aluminium extrusions, And what sort of cost are we talking about ? So far, all of the supliers dont offer prices easily and there is a whole song and dance about getting catalouges etc etc.... Does the price really vary as to my name and email address ??

i use kjn ltd (http://www.kjnltd.co.uk/) for Aluminium extrusion, they stock bosh rexroth, which is a pretty good range, but its not the cheapest out there.

The reason i ues KJN is they have online ordering, do small orders, and offer a cut to size option (you have to email / call through cut to size orders). Also so far the service has been very good (have placed 3 orders).

EDIT: your not the only one that gets griefed with the catalog thing, i remember spending weeks trying to get a rexroth catalog out of the west group (one of rexroths listed uk distributers), and i was calling on behalf of a university! I seriously doubt that people like that even want to deal with end users.

Also Farnell does stock rexroth, but they only sell by full length, and are pretty pricey.

Also there are companies in the US that offer remailing services. I didnt have to use one in the end, but several that advertise on the internet offer to remail your goods whilst marking their customs value as 40% of the cost (wholesale price). On expensive goods they pay for themselves in customs charges (although i have no idea about the legality of their service.

Dear Daedalus,

I'm no lawyer, but I'd be a bit careful if you are thinking of using their services.

I think HM Customs and Excise might knobble you for "conspiracy to defraud" or something...

Best wishes

Martin

Like I said, im not sure about the legalities, but they seem to have been offering the service for several years. I would imagine "value of goods" is rather difficult to prove on second hand items where the value has depreciated already. The advice on the HM C&E website is:

"It is in your own interest to ensure, wherever possible, that the sender abroad makes a complete and accurate declaration. If no declaration is made, or the information is inaccurate, the package may be delayed while we make further enquiries, or in some cases the package and its contents may be seized."

So i guess you risk loosing the goods if they really do their homework.

Like I said, im not sure about the legalities, but they seem to have been offering the service for several years. I would imagine "value of goods" is rather difficult to prove on second hand items where the value has depreciated already. The advice on the HM C&E website is:

"It is in your own interest to ensure, wherever possible, that the sender abroad makes a complete and accurate declaration. If no declaration is made, or the information is inaccurate, the package may be delayed while we make further enquiries, or in some cases the package and its contents may be seized."

So i guess you risk loosing the goods if they really do their homework.

Dear daedalus,

Yes, they may confiscate the goods, but if you "knowingly conspire" (or some such legal phrase) , they may break down your front door , at dawn, if they feel like it, I have read. They have the power to act like unrestrained animals.

Do not do it.

Rest easy in your bed... do not even think of it.

Best wishes,

Martin

Thanks Daedalus for the heads up on www.kjnltd.co.uk, I best start saving the pennies and get my plans finished.

Hi guys - just thought I'd step in with this one regarding shipping from the US. I've mainly bought motors (homeshopcnc) and geckos and have allways been OK with the shipping charges. However on one occasion I needed 4 miniature thrust bearings and washers and I chose sdp-si. Total cost of items was $19 - they were so small you could have posted a 100 of them in a matchbox. Shipping charge? - still can't believe it - $81.

I have ordered heavy items such as linear rails and servos from abroad on ebay and even with postage it can be a huge saving.

Also there are companies in the US that offer remailing services. I didnt have to use one in the end, but several that advertise on the internet offer to remail your goods whilst marking their customs value as 40% of the cost (wholesale price). On expensive goods they pay for themselves in customs charges (although i have no idea about the legality of their service.

Hello all. My name is Elwood (Woody) Beauchamp. Decendants from Normandy.

I am currently receiving items from sellers here in the states, and repackaging them the most economical method possible, and shipping to Australia, or wherever for $15 US and actual cost of shipping.

I will accept your US purchase(s) and either package them properly for transport to your destination, or, accumilate items until the box is as near to 20 pounds as possible, complete all customs forms required, and post them to you. All other methods of shipping are availabe to me as well.

I know this isn't a place to discuss these matters, but there is a need and I am happy to offer a solution.

I have references in Australia, one of whom has offered to give a reference for me, and another who is on holiday in Thailand untill end of the month(I have 5 boxes for him, ready to post. I am sure that he will give me reference as well.

Please email Edward Pinder at appi@swiftdsl.com.au (http://appi@swiftdsl.com.au) He is a member of CNCzone also, as well as I.

Please contact me at elwooddbeauchamp@gmail.com and we will chat over the details.


I was a machinist in a tool and die job shop for more than 13 years, and moved on to build Specialty Custom Machinery for the last 6. Now disabled and plenty of time to do anything...I enjoy doing this for only $15 US.

I have mailed Richard, also in Australia, 16 parcels to date. When he returns to his computer I am sure he will also give me as a reference for this service

I am in no way an agent for, nor associated with, the USPS, other than using the USPS's official packaging.

just reply to this post and we'll chat.

Regards to all,

Elwood Beauchamp

Not sure about the legality of this one but saw on the www.parcel2go.com website that you can have a US mailbox - so get all your stuff delivered there then they will ship a box full of your stuff for a fixed fee to the UK.
And before you ask I dont work for them I just use some of their services.

Not sure about the legality of this one but saw on the www.parcel2go.com website that you can have a US mailbox - so get all your stuff delivered there then they will ship a box full of your stuff for a fixed fee to the UK.
And before you ask I dont work for them I just use some of their services.

The fact that they ship for a fixed fee doesn't prevent UK customs from slapping VAT & duty on the parce when it arrives in the UK. The point of the service seems to be to allow you to buy from sellers who won't ship internationally. They aren't taking any more US address orders anyway...

To be honest, even with VAT etc - I can still buy stuff cheaper or get stuff I can't get in the UK from little machineshop, Geckodrive and homeshopcnc in the US. What does annoy me is paying £13.50 handling charge to the UK post office for them abducting my parcel until I've paid the duty, and sending me a ransom note in the post, adding a few days to the delivery time. UPS are much nicer as they phone you up and you can pay the charges over the phone.

i use kjn ltd (http://www.kjnltd.co.uk/) for Aluminium extrusion, they stock bosh rexroth, which is a pretty good range, but its not the cheapest out there.

The reason i ues KJN is they have online ordering, do small orders, and offer a cut to size option (you have to email / call through cut to size orders). Also so far the service has been very good (have placed 3 orders).


I used KJN a few weeks ago - the cut to length option is very rapid - delivery is 2-3 days after the order is accepted, but what they don't say on their website is that the cuts are free, but you don't get free delivery, unlike if you were just buying stock lengths.

The cuts are excellent, but I think I prefer the Hepco/Marchant Dice extrusion, as the KJN stuff has a small groove on the flat space beween t-slots on the 80x80 profile. This doesn't cause any incompatabilities with my other extrusion, but it does provide less of a contact area with flat bits of metal I bolt onto the faces of the profile. I don't have any evidence that this is a problem yet though.

Well, my original post didn't get canned...so I'll expound.

I started shipping items overseas after I sold a few of my tools to an Australian fellow. I sent his item right away and for a quite reasonable shipping charge...the actual postage the US Post Office charge. All I did was package the tools carefully and didn't rape him with the shipping charges. Also I initiated some dialog with him, how you doing, how's the weather, were you in either of the Lord Of The Ring films, what do you do for a living, etc, etc. and he responded in kind. I guess I know more about my Aussie friend, Rich, than I know some of my relatives.

That said, I read some of the chatter in these threads about the "Postal Gangsters" you must deal with...I feel your pain.

When you purchase from someone in the states and they do not ship out of the US, you can probably find several places that will send you your items and probably at a good price....for themselves.

I have nothing to do all day and when I learned that there was a chink in the international supply chain, I couldn't believe how easy it was to fix that problem.

If you buy a 4 ounce(US) widget, and are charged anything more than $3.60 USD, you have been violated. Stateside shipping via USPS is $3.60 for a 4 ounce parcel via the USPS's new Rate System for shipping via First Class International. The actual delivery time varies, and I have not used it enough times to get a trend.

The other two mates I ship to are Very happy to pay $37 USD per 20 Pound package as well as the cost of having the items delivered to my home in Northern Mississippi, and receive them within a week of my posting them.

I encourage you to drop them a line, here in the CNCzone Forum. Ed has volunteered to give a reference and Rich is still on holiday for a couple more weeks.

I also refer them to sellers with the items they are searching for and arrange shipping to me as well.

I have bid and won items for them on eBay and when the seller requires a money order only, they pay me (via PayPal) and I purchase the Money Order and mail it to the seller.

I also accept payment via BidPay.

I cannot vouch for the other Shipping Agents here about, but I will give you details about my services:
I am in no form or fashion associated with any Commercial Shipper other than having an account with them in order to allow me to stock envelopes, boxes, labels, customs forms, etc. and arrange pickup and posting with them.

I will package your item(s) with care and alert you to any unusual or obvious deformities or damages I find.

I will communicate with your seller and attempt to resolve any problems with your transaction with them.

I will notify you when your item is posted/shipped and provide you with any tracking information.

I encourage you, if you have even the faintest idea of allowing me to be a Shipping Agent for you, to log onto eBay USA, and click Community at top of page. Enter woodynpat143i in the Search for Member box top/left of page and see who we are. We have been members for some time and our Feedback is 100% Positive.

I don't have Ed's username handy, but If you read this thread before I can find an post it, come back shortly to contact him.

Good Day and Good Health to all.

Elwood (woody) Beauchamp

Here is Edward's post. Please give him a ring.
Elwood
...
I encourage you, if you have even the faintest idea of allowing me to be a Shipping Agent for you, to log onto eBay USA, and click Community at top of page. Enter woodynpat143i in the Search for Member box top/left of page and see who we are. We have been members for some time and our Feedback is 100% Positive.

I don't have Ed's username handy, but If you read this thread before I can find an post it, come back shortly to contact him.

Good Day and Good Health to all.

Elwood (woody) Beauchamp

======================================================

Hello group

I am about to build my second machine, first one was mainly cast AL parts with ball bearings pressed in. About 1200mm by 600mm.

The 2nd one I want to make bigger ( 3200mm by 1800mm ) with mainly off the shelf parts.

I have priced some linear bearings from VBX and am happy with the price and have dealt with them before and have found their service faultless, I am thinking of using either toothed belts or rack and pinion for the drive, SSS after three emails quoted a price ( kept leaving off one rack ) but can't supply the pinions, they also want the order to be pre-paid, ( I am in Australia but have a US shipping agent ).

What I am after is the name/s of some supplies of racks and linear bearings that accept orders online, any suggestions??

BTW, I bought some steppers and controllers from Keling( sp? ) and found them to be very easy to order through.

Ed Pinder

You may also want to try http://www.slidesandballscrews.com for ball screws and linear guides.

You may also want to try http://www.slidesandballscrews.com for ball screws and linear guides.Wow looks good! :beer: Thanks

You may also want to try http://www.slidesandballscrews.com for ball screws and linear guides. They have some new 25mm slides arriving soon.....

Yes we do, they will be available in about 8 weeks.
We have quite a bit more stock coming at the same time including supported round rail and linear bearings, larger ball screws and flexible couplings.

They have some new 25mm slides arriving soon.....

Prices look good...Are you affiliated with MCP aka Motion Control Products? I notice they are offering the Slides on Ebay...With the .pdf booklet on your site. No problem either way as MCP sold me some great kit :) Can you source some V bearings..... :hoping: :D

We ere connected by common directors.
Zapp Automations supply the linear motion products to MCP and we re sell the MCP drivers.
We are adding more products all the time, and can look into V bearings but it will be in a few months, because we have our hands full at the moment with what we are currently selling.



Prices look good...Are you affiliated with MCP aka Motion Control Products? I notice they are offering the Slides on Ebay...With the .pdf booklet on your site. No problem either way as MCP sold me some great kit :) Can you source some V bearings..... :hoping: :D

Whilst not in the UK per se I found it interesting enough to come and post it :D Marus Mechatronics (http://www.markusmechatronics.com/)

Nice post lots of food for thought. KJN Ltd snot web site is not playing at the mo...

Dear All,

If you need plastics, these people are worth a try.

http://www.directplasticsonline.co.uk/

I ordered some stuff on Thursday night and it was on the doormat on Saturday morning.

Best wishes,

Martin

You guys might be interested in this http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53964
It wont be long before you build up a network of suppliers.

Might be against the rules? I'm selling this on ebay CNC ready PC (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=320248398878&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=011) All legit software and just needs a new owner and plugging in, Reason for sale....I've acquired 9A Drivers and moved to bigger things.

This is in the UK and cheap so I posted it here :D

Cheap ballnuts and screws on ebay......Get em while they're hot :) Item number 110259487219