Hello to everyone on the forum.

My stats show that I have been a member here on the forum for over 3 years and have yet to contibute. So here goes...

Let me introduce the K60MT CNC Router manufactured By the Jinan Quick CNC Company. This is my first ever purchase from China and the biggest purchase I have ever made from an overseas supplier.

I began the financial transaction with the manufacturer on 22/07/09 and the machine was delivered to my address in Melbourne on 02/10/09 (Approx. 72 days, but who's counting). Upon reflection, it doesn't seem like such a long time, but excitement,anxiety and some stress definately prolong the weeks...

When all was said and done,seeing the machine sitting in my shed, I can honestly say that I am very happy with my purchase...

I still have obstacles to overcome(big 3phase ones), but at least I know that the machine is real, that I have spent my money wisely and that when Its finally up and going, my imagination will be the only obstacle to anything I want to create...

If anyone is interested, I do have more to write on my experiences, good & bad ones, but for now, I'll upload some photos of the arrival of my machine and post again shortly.

Andre.

thats a big router!! please keep posting it helps all!!


crank it up!!

jim

Hi Andre, Excellent photos, always good to see a new machine arrive.

Glad to see you posting, even though it took you 3 years to make the first one. Hope you make it a habit now!

Those crates are built very well - you will have plenty of scrap steel for projects.

The machine sure looks chunky! Your wait will have been worth it.

It would be great if you write of your experiences in purchasing, shipping, power requirements etc. Makes for interesting reading, and helps others that may be interested in buying a CNC Router.

Lots of photos too please.

Rocket.

Like Rocket and Jim said, they are really excellent photos, intend to sneak some of them when you are absent, hope you don't mind :0 And yes! pls keep posting... shall continue...

Before purchasing the K60MT, I was constantly looking for detailed photos of various Chinese Routers. It was difficult to get the kind of photos one would find useful from sales people in order to analyse the machine and see whether the design was to your liking. I was lucky enough to have been able to see in person an Excitech Machine(SHM 1325) here in Melbourne, and from then on, I was convinced about going the Chinese Route. Members of the forum such as Rocket67, Big S & many more have put up photos of their own machines which helped me immensely in deciding what kind of machine I wanted.

That being the case,its only fair that I post some of my own photos now that my machine has arrived so that others may also have a better insight into these machines. At the moment I can only comment on the physical appearance and build of the machine as power has not yet been connected. When I finally do get connected, I also hope to have the time to upload videos of my machine in operation, as this to me is the best way to get an understanding of a machines capabilities.

The photos in this post are of the machine structure and the different things that make up the machine. Enough talking, here come some photos...

Btw, I have not yet had the time to clean down the machine properly yet, so don't take too much notice of the dirt & grime. One of the slightly disappointing things was the that the machine wasn't very clean when it arrived. Things like the vacuum bed had alot of debris in the slots, such as electrical wiring etc.. There is also a paint spot on the bed and some oil, all of which is not a huge problem, but when you get a new machine, its a lot more pleasant to see it in a new state....

Here are a few small videos I received from the manufacturer when the machine was nearing completion. They are not that interesting, but when you see your machine coming to life, it's a pretty exciting moment...

YouTube - K60MT Factory Demo1

YouTube - K60MT Factory Demo2

YouTube - K60MT Factory Demo - Partial Build

Excellent thread Andre. Really enjoying your photos and videos.

You will find that the Lubrication System works very well. The pump lever on the canister should be operated only once a week. Do not go overboard with it or there will be oil dripping off the Z axis. I always place a bit of scrap under the Spindle area when the machine is not in use, as you will get drips of oil now and again.
With our first machine, i am always frustrated by the lack of operator applied Lubrication to the rails. On the Quick machine i quite often wipe the rails to avoid excessive Lubrication ( a much preferred situation! ).

It needs to be mentioned that we are buying these machines " Factory Direct ", at very low prices. The Chinese manufacturers are not big on Detailing the machines after manufacture, or providing extensive manuals.
Therefore, any intending purchasers need to be aware that the machines will arrive with swarf in some areas, maybe a little overspray from the painting and offcuts of wiring and washers in the bottom of the control cabinet.
So have some " Wax and Grease Remover " handy and give the whole machine a thorough cleaning. Also open the control cabinet and Vacuum the bottom of it, remove the side covers from the gantry and remove any swarf sitting in them. The savings are well worth a bit of " elbow grease "

Here is a superb comparison - Yesterday i received an Email from a Melbourne based CNC Router Business. They have just launched a marketing campaign for their new Mighty Boy CNC Router. It is a 1200 x 2400 machine, with 7 Station Auto Tool Changer, Vacuum System, and Dust Extraction. Installed, and with 3 days training it is $68,000.
For those requiring the "Gloss" it is probably a good buy.
However by importing our own machine from China - we are paying a lot less than half of this price! I would rather keep money in my bank account and do my own cleaning!
http://www.protechcnc.com.au/procamCNC.htm

Rocket.

"Here is a superb comparison - Yesterday i received an Email from a Melbourne based CNC Router Business. They have just launched a marketing campaign for their new Mighty Boy CNC Router. It is a 1200 x 2400 machine, with 7 Station Auto Tool Changer, Vacuum System, and Dust Extraction. Installed, and with 3 days training it is $68,000.
For those requiring the "Gloss" it is probably a good buy.
However by importing our own machine from China - we are paying a lot less than half of this price! I would rather keep money in my bank account and do my own cleaning!
http://www.protechcnc.com.au/procamCNC.htm"

For that price I guess I could over look the
violation of human rights http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_the_People's_Republic_of_China (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_the_People%27s_Republic_of_China) , lack of environmental regulation enforcement
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/95755
currency manipulation
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1930681,00.html?xid=rss-mostpopular
and having a state controlled media.
http://www.onthemedia.org/yore/transcripts/transcripts_031706_redpencil.html
On second though maybe not.
But my point is "What is the true "cost" of that discount?". A lot more than you seem to think.

Liberty for ALL,
Todd

In Response to Todd71, I would have to say that I agree with the points that he is making. His suggestion is that by purchasing a CNC Router or anything else from China, I am a supporter of Human Rights violations and Environmental Destruction.

Indirectly I guess that I am, and for that I put my hand up. I have thought long and hard about buying from China. After seeing a full Sized $120,000 machine from Procam Australia at my previous employment, I can definately say that I would have preferred to keep my money within my own country.

Having said that, I am a hobbyist and more or less just someone working for the "Man", so financially it would be impossible for me to own such a machine. I am motivated to build my own machine, and had I known all the ins and outs of such a build, I probably would have gone down that route.

With the great spoils of American life, I'm not sure that you'd appreciate what it costs people in Australia to purchase things like CNC machinery. We have virtually no Used CNC market, only a handful of manufacturers and even if we were to build our own machines, everything would need to be imported, either from the US or somewhere in Asia.

So, what is a man to do.
I can sit in my lounge room and spend all of my days secluded away, watching documentaries with activists telling me how bad the current state of the world is, so that all hope of a decent life is drained from me, or I can accept that I am participating in a necessary evil by purchasing this machine, and balance things out by never having to buy cheap chinese furniture again, while also contributing to the economy here by helping others do the same, when they buy furniture from me made in Australia, with Australian materials, using a Chinese Machine.

If my venture were to become serious enough to warrant another machine, be assured I would definately pursue either the Australian Route or the Self Build Route. Not because I don't want to deal with the Jinan Quick CNC Company, but because I would be in both a better financial position, and have a greater knowledge base with which to build my own.

It would be interesting to see what would happen if all of the people like me immediately stopped buying chinese. Would the people then be better off ??

In any event, I am here to help people who have an interest in CNC machinery, not to debate the state of the world. Lets turn the subject back to the purpose of this thread.

For most people, the most daunting thing to get their heads around will probably be the electronics. I myself have only a basic understanding of how electrical componentry works. Anything beyond voltage, current, amps and power is a little beyond me at this stage, but as I progress, I hope to have a better understanding, especially in terms of motion control components.

Attached are images of the Electrical cabinet of my machine. It appears neat and well built with plenty of space for heat dispersement. It should be a simple wire up for the electrician. In the future I hope to upgrade the machine to operate it using a Mach3 Controller. It would be great if it could be done using the majority of electronics which are already present in the cabinet. I also purchased a 4th Axis attachment, which I was told needed to be connected using a port from one of the existing axes. By this I mean that if you want to use the 4th Axis, either the X-Axis or Y-axis will be inoperable. I hope to be able to rectify this and have all axes working at the same time. Hopefully a Mach3 controller will have this ability.

Btw, can anybody tell me what the two Black Transformer like components are shown in the bottom section of the cabinet, and also what function the component with the wire mesh front perfoms ??

Hi todd71, the purpose of the thread is not an advertisment for my Manufacturer. I have no real understanding of how the manufacturing industry works in China, so I can't make any concrete judgement, but it does seem that there are many of the same machine sold by different companies. . Not something that happens here in Australia. A Procam CNC Router is a unique machine, not manufactured by 100 other companies. My thread is aimed to be informative for all, not specific to one brand.

The lack of information, or lack of quality of information was a great source of frustration and angst during my purchase. Having other people on the forum document and share their experience was a great asset to me and this is my way of returning the favour.

After I have posted the photos of my machine, I will then focus my attention more on making chips and sharing my projects with people on the forum. Unfortunately I am awaiting a 3Phase Power Installation which has set me back some time. But I take your point, I could be seen to come across as an advertisment...

I appreciate that you hold no animosity towards me as CNC is my hobby and I'm here on the forum for enjoyment and education and no other reason. I see alot of threads turn personal and I have no interest in that at all. Noone will be happier or prouder than me whan I can share my projects on the forum...

Hi Andre,

The two transformers are for the 4 stepper drivers, each transformer is for 2 drivers, I thought the driver is in 110V, so it is for transfer the 380V power into 110V which the drivers could work. And the "wire mesh" you mentioned is a filter, which is for making the useful signals pass to the driver stably and unuseful ones blocked. In other word, it is for the machine which can work more stable.

I empathise with Todd. I know what he is saying. As an enthusiastic reader of the Gold is Money Forum i read these sort of things all the time.
But the fact is the stable door was opened a long time ago and the horse bolted. We need to deal with things the way they are. No hard feelings here Todd.
http://goldismoney.info/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=2

Andre, Am i correct in writing that by seeing these posts about the machines it helped you to make a decision on which machine to buy? You wrote sincerely that in Australia we do not have access to machines at competitive prices as they do in the USA. I had a quote from the distributor of Techno machines. It was going to cost us 80K for that machine. Too much for me. The Chinese machines are the logical answer for us.

Do not see this thread as an advertisement, but a factual account of these machines. It is valuable information for those of us interested in CNC Routers - especially on this side of the world. Please keep this superb thread going.

Sincerely.

Rocket.

Andre09,

Congratulations on your new machine. It appears to have a strong structure. What is the material of the gantry? Is it steel or aluminum?

Thanks,
N

Hi Nash, the Gantry on my machine is made from steel. The standard option for the K60MT is aluminium, but I requested steel. Its probably unneccesary and may even slow the machine down a little, but my mind is more at ease if I know that I've got a very strong gantry. I was also considering raising the Gantry, but decided to stay with the 200mm working height as I thought that adding extra height may increase the rick of instability as the gantry moved back and forth along the Y-Axis rails.

From what I know about the manufacturing process,the Gantry is welded together and then is sent to a Metal Planer/Shaper to create the flat surfaces to seat the linear slides onto. Someone who has more knowledge may be able to comment about this process, but that is my understanding. If you look closely at the photos showing the underside of the gantry, you can see a raised section of either steel or some composite, which also looks to be welded onto the Gantry and also machined flat.

One of the features that drew me to this style of Gantry was the way its put together. There is a video on Youtube showing an Excitech SHM1530 machine out of square and and when I saw the way it was attached at the ends, it seemed to rely on too many faces of components being true and square to each other in order for the whole Gantry to be aligned.This method used by the SHM1530 seems to be typical of most Gantrys built by the chinese manufacturers. (please read these comments as coming from an amateur, I may not know what the hell I'm talking about). With the structure of my Router there are only a few critical things which must occur for the gantry to run true.

They are:
1. The two Gantry supports must be machined flat at the same height (co-planar)
2. The Gantry beam must be machined so that two sides, the front side supporting the rails & the underside joining to the supports are both at right angles to each other and parallel along the length of the beam.

These two things can be achieved while the components are separate, so that when the builder comes to put it all together, his job is made relatively easy. Its more or less a case of inserting the bolts that join the supports to the beam and squaring the beam up to the Y-Axis. It seems like a simpler, more elegant solution to me. (I don't know that it was actually manufactured this way, but its the way I would have done it)

By having the Steel Gantry, the opportunity is also there to add an Auto tool changer if I wish in future without needing to add more strength.

There may also be an opportunity to build a 4th axis similar to the one you see below from an american company.

YouTube - NEW CNC.com carving

For what its worth, I dont like the plates that have been attached to both ends of the beam, the ones with the cylinder welded to them. They are there to support a steel tube which has two right angles and is designed (Im guessing) to support the Dust extraction hose etc... I would have preferred to make up something myself, and Infact I may still do that.

Here are the photos I have of the Gantry:

The two transformers are for the 4 stepper drivers, each transformer is for 2 drivers, I thought the driver is in 110V, so it is for transfer the 380V power into 110V which the drivers could work. And the "wire mesh" you mentioned is a filter, which is for making the useful signals pass to the driver stably and unuseful ones blocked. In other word, it is for the machine which can work more stable.

Hi Rick, thanks for the information. Its good to see that you have a working knowledge of your product. While we are on the topic, could you answer a few more things I was not quite sure about ?

1. The first photo shows the circuit breaker(connection point) for the external power, and I just wanted to confirm that the connection point next to the circuit breaker is to attach the vacuum pump. Am I correct in my assumption here ?

2. If I'm correct about the Vacuum pump connection, could you confirm whether the Machine Specification Tag Includes the Vacuum Pump in the 15KW power rating, or whether to total power requirement equals 15KW + 5.5KW (21.5KW)for the vacuum pump ?

3. The Fuling Inverter has a power rating of 11.0Kw, but the spindle has a 6.0 KW power rating. How does this work, has the inverter been limited in its power output, or is there something I don't understand about the relationship between Inverter & Spindle ?

As I said in an earlier post, the electrics are my weak point, so any information is useful on this topic..

Hi Rick, thanks for the information. Its good to see that you have a working knowledge of your product. While we are on the topic, could you answer a few more things I was not quite sure about ?

1. The first photo shows the circuit breaker(connection point) for the external power, and I just wanted to confirm that the connection point next to the circuit breaker is to attach the vacuum pump. Am I correct in my assumption here ?

2. If I'm correct about the Vacuum pump connection, could you confirm whether the Machine Specification Tag Includes the Vacuum Pump in the 15KW power rating, or whether to total power requirement equals 15KW + 5.5KW (21.5KW)for the vacuum pump ?

3. The Fuling Inverter has a power rating of 11.0Kw, but the spindle has a 6.0 KW power rating. How does this work, has the inverter been limited in its power output, or is there something I don't understand about the relationship between Inverter & Spindle ?

As I said in an earlier post, the electrics are my weak point, so any information is useful on this topic..


Hi Andre,

Would like to,

1. Yes, your assumption is correct, the connection poles which attached with the breaker is for the vacuum pump.

2. The power which shown on the machine lable 15W has included the power of vacuum pump. So if it is 15Kw, only the machine is 15-5.5KW=9.5Kw

3. Normally many manufacture will use 7.5Kw inverter for a 6Kw spindle, maybe it could be enough for a Chinese spindle. but for a Italian HSD one, considered its peak power and the spindle's stability, we use the 11Kw. so the spindle could perform its best ability.

I'm very appreciated to your photos, have a nice weekend and don't work too hard..

When deciding on which Vacuum pump to buy, I initially lent towards the better quality,more expensive Becker Vacuum Pump which I was really impressed by. This would have been my choice had I stuck to my original CNC Router Choice, which was The Excitech SHM1325. This router is slightly cheaper and would have allowed a little bit extra in the budget for the Vacuum Pump. I justified the purchase of the older technology pump by saying to myself that if it was not up to scratch, I could just save a little more and get the German Becker Pump. After reading this in one of Rocket's posts, I was starting to doubt the wiseness of my decision:

Still having problems with the Water Cooled Vacuum Pump on the 1500 x 3000 machine. If anybody is considering buying a Water Cooled Vacuum Pump with a machine - My advice would be- Don`t do it!!!! Get the Air Cooled Pump. We could have bought the Air Cooled Pump for $2,650 USD,with the machine. The Pump cannot be bought on it`s own from China, and we either have to pay $5,890 for the similar Pump here in Australia, or try to find a secondhand unit somewhere. A total head f...!
We will find an answer somehow.


Im hoping that I may have more luck with the Vacuum Pump Rocket. Had I read your trials and tribulations with the pump, I may have found some extra money to get the Becker Pump. We'll just see how things go with it...

Ohh, and when I know how the hell it works, I'll let you all know... The blurb was that it will hold 7 sheets of mdf down at one time... Yep, we'll see

Actually the slogan is 7+1 sheets ... and pls take care of the wiring cause Rocket's pump is somehow wrecked by the wrong wiring of the electrician... god bless that pump...

Andre, Here is my understanding - And this is without any instructions/manuals. Firstly, take a look at the Control Console -
http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg34/rocket67/DSC02617.jpg

The Green Button next to the Red Stop Switch turns the machine on after you turn the key. The 2 Buttons beside the On/Off Switch turn the Vacuum Pump on - but it is not under Load. The Switch on the right labelled Suction Button is the one that operates the Vacuum. The 6 Switches on the Right of the Console are the different Vacuum Zones.

Our pump operated fine until we turned the Suction Button ( the one under the key ). I believe that this creates the initial " Pull Down ", and the Pump only needs to hold the Vacuum after this. Is this correct Rick?

With our pump, upon turning on theSuction Button Switch ie. Putting it under Load, it sounds like the Pump is seizing up. Makes a terrible noise. Thought it may be the Impeller loose and hitting on something. We took the front of the Pump off. We found that the gasket may have been folded over at manufacture, and also the outline of the Impeller on the front plate. We may machine the front plate and make a new gasket just to see what happens.

I think it will be important for Andre to add some Soluble Oil to the water upon initial fill. We found a bit of corrosion inside the pump.

Also,whenever we turned off the Pump - Water went gushing down the pipe and into the machine outlet. So i wonder if it should have some sort of one way valve fitted to prevent this.

Any thoughts about this Rick?

Rocket.

Hi Rod,

The button under the key is for controlling the whole valve of the pump, turn colckwise the pump will off and turn anticlockwise the pump will on. so it is just like a main switch of the pump. If after you turn the knob then the pump doesn't work, I think it must be somewhere the wiring is wrong.

About the water gushing, will transmit to the factory to see if they can add a anti flow valve or something to avoid it.

Hi Rocket, what you are saying seems to suggest to me that:

1. By Turning 2 of the 3 switches to the On position, the motor begins turning, but without enough power to create Vacuum.
2. Turning the 3rd switch increases the power to a level which actually increases the vacuum within the system.
3. Turning the 3rd switch off when there is enough Vacuum without switching the 1st 2 switches off maintains the Vacuum hold, but at a reduced power load.

Does that sound correct ?

I'm now pretty confused. I thought I had an answer, but then I though about it properly and what I was thinking was nonsense.

My question now is about the role of the switches, what do they actually do ?

I was starting to think they controlled one phase of the power each, but that doesn't seem logical.

Are they controlling the current being sent to the Pump ?
Rocket, could you tell me how the two green "Indiontion" lights above switch 1 & 2 work when you turn the power on ?

Tomorrow I'll have good look at the way those switches are wired, the answer should lie there about the correct operation of the Vacuum Pump.

Andre, to operate the machine -
Turn key to on position
Press Green" On "Button - Machine is powered up. DSP Controller lights up, and Green indicator light above On button lights up .
To Switch on Vacuum Pump - Turn Vacuum Pump Switch On. Vacuum Pump starts and IS Sucking at hose. Green light above Switch lights up.
Next switch - not sure! I just assumed that it must be On to have Vacuum.
Last Switch - Suction button. We are of the opinion that this is a valve of some description similar to the valve on the Excitech which creates the initial Hold Down of the material to be routered.

During this week i will connect our Becker Vacuum pump to the machine outlet and test all the buttons to try and come up with a definitive answer.
Have not connected the Becker pump up till now because i wanted the water to dry out of the pipes.
I suggest that you speak with a pump specialist to find out if it is possible to fit a one way valve to the hose in order to prevent water from gushing into the machines pipes when the pump is turned off. Do not know if it is a fault with the pump or not.
The actual name of these type of pumps is " Liquid Ring Vacuum Pump ". Maybe search the net for some info on these.
Do you want me to take photos of the pump with the front removed?

It is important to use Soluble Oil in your water when you fill the tank. Are you familiar with this type of oil?
You should be able to buy a tin of about 200mls at an Auto Parts Supplier.
We used to use it in Automotive Cooling systems. It will put a small amount of oil on metal surfaces and help prevent corrosion. On Cooling systems it also Lubricates the water pump bearing.
When first added to water it will turn the water a milky colour for a couple of days, and then it will go clear.

Rocket.

Thanks to Rocket, I was able to do some research on the Net about these "Liquid Ring Vacuum Pumps". Most things end up being so simple once you have been shown whats involved. Below is a link with an animation of the fundamental physics of the pump.

http://www.gd-nash.com/uploadedImages/Nash/Products/Flash_Images/flat%20sided%20liquid%20ring%20how%20it%20works%20nl.swf

The next link has a description of what is happening:

http://www.wintek-corp.com/liquid-ring/how-liquid-ring-works.html

As the void in the "Impeller Cell" expands, the air particles spread out causing a change in the atmospheric pressure. This draws more air particles into the "Impeller Cell" which means suction at the inlet Port. A very clever concept.

As Rocket pointed out, a Check Valve is really a must have to prevent the flow of water into the Vacuum hoses. I've seen it suggested that a butterfly style valve is most suited as it will have the lowest pressure drop.

Looking at the animation, I'm wondering whether all the problems you have had Rocket are due entirely to the electrician spinning the motor in the wrong direction. I did read that it becomes quite turbulent inside the pump housing when the motor is spinning...

Also, I'd like to have one more go at the function of the switches:

1st Black Switch - Turns Vacuum table Pump on.
2nd Black Switch - Turns water pump on for Water Cooled Spindles.
(If you have an air cooled spindle this button has no function)
3rd Black Switch - Gives power to the Electromagnetic Valves which are located underneath the machine bed so that you can choose which zones you want to apply suction to. I think the Excitech that Rocket owns has manual valve gates.

Does that sound like its more on the money ??
I received a document from the manufacturer and this is what I understood.

Andre, Looks like you have nailed it on all counts!

Makes sense now that the second Switch labelled Pump is for a Water Cooled Spindle, and therefore not in use on our machine.

The Electrician had wired it up so that it was pumping water into the hose instead of sucking. Charlie our old Electrician came and changed 2 wires around. They were the 2 on the bottom at the pump connection at each end.
The Pump did appear to be working after that for a while. I had it going for several hours when surfacing the Spoilboard, although it was not really doing anything because the Spoilboard is screwed down. Just wanted to see it run for a while.
It is only when we turn on the Suction Button that all hell breaks loose with it. Definitely a problem with it somewhere.

Rocket.

Rocket, when I was reading up on the pump, there was mention that there is quite severe turbulence within the housing during operation. Perhaps when it was running in reverse, It has done untold damage to the integrity of the housing & internal workings. Otherwise, it really should work. It is a simple machine, with only one moving part. Was it easy to disassemble the pump, I may have a look today and show you what mine looks like...

One of the major problems I am facing at the moment having purchased the machine is powering it up. Living in a residential suburb, with neighbors all around me doesn't bode well for running a CNC Router day & night.

So fortunately for me, I am able to have access to a large shed on an Acreage. The shed is 14m x 6m which is perfect for me, I will be able to arrange all the machinery into a logical and well laid out fashion so as to create a great work environment.

I thought all my numbers had fallen into place when I noticed an outlet which looked distinctly like a 3 Phase outlet on the power board. Inside the shed is an old Wheel Balancing unit, which uses three phase, so I decided to plug it in an see what happened. When I turned the switch, sure enough it started buzzing and even turned a little. I knew this machine had not been used for 8 years, so I presumed that it probably needed some lubrication and a service to get it running properly again.

I then asked the property owner and he told me that there was indeed 3 phase power available to the shed. This was perfect. As you can see the power board is pretty old, but I thought it would not be difficult to add a couple of 3 phase outlets to the supply.

WRONG ! I made the stupid mistake of assuming everything would be OK, and did not contact an electrician till after the machine had arrived. This was partly due to laziness, but mostly because I did not know what was required to wire up the machine. I thought that there would be no point having the electrician come out twice to quote the extra 3 phase outlets & then the Machine connection as well.

So when I did get the original electrician out, he had a look at the Meter Box and immediately told me that I did not have 3 Phase. Instead I had a 2 Phase (cockie power) supply... He was only a part timer, so he wasn't interested in doing a large job like the one facing the shed. He was of the opinion that the overhead cabling on the property was suitable for 3 Phase, it just had to be reconnected from the pole to the Meter box and the meter box would need an upgrade. Not too expensive was his prediction...

So the next day I rang a local electrician and he came and had a look. He looked at the overhead cabling and mentioned that the were only two actives & one neutral cable, meaning we were one phase short.

At this point you start thinking what an Ass, how could I not see that we were one cable short of what is required. And the fact that the there is only two fuses for the "3 phase" outlet should have triggered something. But the assurance I got from the property owner, the fact that I plugged the Wheel Balancing unit in and something happened, and the fact that I recognised the style of outlet all lead my mind into a stupor.

So connecting to 3 phase doesn't seem to much of an issue, except that the shed is 300 metres from the road. I have yet to get a definitive answer as to how 3 phase will be connected, but I'm expecting big bucks.

The possibly outcomes are:

1. Install a third active cable on the overhead lines.
2. Install a new underground cable(what the utility company want)
3. Add a transformer to the end of the line near the shed to create the third leg.
4. Buy a phase converter

All of these outcomes will also require an upgrade from the pole to the shed, which includes new cabling and a new meter box.

To give you an idea of the cost of a phase converter, I contacted a local company here in Victoria: http://www.phasechanger.com/ and the quote I got was $12,000 plus GST for a converter suitable for my machine. The price will drop a little as Rick Carter did tell me yesterday that the power requirements for the machine were less than I initially thought. Still its alot to cop when you've already stretched the budget...

Of course, there is also the time factor. Anyone who has purchased a CNC Router and had it delivered wants to see the thing working As soon as possible. When I spoke to the electrical company, they told me that if I needed a transformer Upgrade, the current wait time is 8 Months...

Please No, not 8 months Mr SEC......

My point here to anyone who is considering a purchase, contacting the electrician is the first thing that should be done before you start sending money to your manufacturer. If I had have done this, I would have been able to make a better informed decision on my purchase. If the electrician were to come back to me and say, its going to cost $20,000 and it will take 8 months, I might well have purchased a smaller machine which does not require 3 phase power for its operation....

Andre, That sure is a whole lot of hard luck. Thinking your bases were covered and then finding that they were not.

A quick check on alibaba.com for a Rotary Phase Converter turned up these results -
http://www.alibaba.com/trade/search?SearchText=rotary+phase+converter&Country=&CatId=0&IndexArea=product_en&ssk=y

A bit of a predicament you find yourself in. The Phase Converter sounds the best option that you wrote of. However if it is going to cost 12k i am not so sure. Maybe there are better options.

1) Sell your 3 phase machine - perhaps on Ebay, and buy a replacement machine with a 3KW Single Phase spindle. You could possibly even make a profit!
2) Is there somebody in Australia looking for a big machine who may even be watching this thread?

3) Is it an option to move the machine out of the rural shed and lease a factory which has 3 Phase Power?

If you spend 12K on the converter - it is money you will probably not be able to recoup.

Regarding the Vacuum Pump - We have already taken the front cover off ours, so no point in you pulling apart a perfectly good Pump.

Hope you can resolve the power issue.

Rocket.

Hi Rocket, too late.
I went to the shed today and took the front cover off the Vacuum Pump.
Easy enough to do. The only thing I couldn't get free was the front plate(I think its a plate) from the Cast Iron Housing. Did you manage to get that bit loose ? Anyway, I got most of it apart and had a good look at it. I see what you mean about corrosion. I wonder if it would be possible to have an anti corrosive liquid held inside the pump during transit, so that there is no rust build up. Do you think I should fill it now with some soluble oil & water to prevent further damage while it is laying dormant?

If you actually take note of the three red arrows on the pump, it can get confusing. I can understand if someone wires it the wrong way. If you look at the Pump end of the Vacuum, you see the two arrows on the inlet & outlet pipes. From that perspective it looks as though the natural flow would be in a clockwise direction, with the "impeller cells" moving underneath the impeller. But in fact, the opposite occurs. The "Impeller cell" carries the void over the top of the Impeller, moving in a sort of W pattern. Its a bit clearer in the demo I linked a few posts back. Its lucky that there is that little red arrow sticker on the motor itself to tell the electrician which way it should be traveling. I reckon if that sticker was not there, 99% of these pump would be wired incorrectly. Im fairly confident of getting this thing to work..

Rocket, I had also thought that I might have to sell my machine on and purchase a smaller one. But I am pretty hooked on what I have and I'm keen to stick with this one.

I did have some better news today. The electrician called and said that the utility company have given permission to add an extra cable to the overhead lines. This is because we are not in a fire prone area and thus the upgrade is not considered a risk. This is a great relief.

It is still going to be expensive, preliminary costs are about $7,000 including the upgrade to the meter box etc...

I know, your probably thinking an extra $7,000 spent on the machine is almost up there at Auto Tool Changer level. If I had that little bit extra I would have bought a spindle like the one 'Big S' is using with manual tool changer (ISO 30). But I'm now so far down the track, and so close to my goal, that I can cop the extra 'Surcharge'. I think it is a better solution than the Phase Converter because, when I find cheap 3 Phase machinery like dust collectors or a Planer or Thicknesser etc, It will be easy to upgrade the power box to accommodate. The Phase Converter is limited in Output.

He was also talking about 4 weeks, so here's hoping..

While looking over my machine today, I was trying to figure out how Im going to hook the 4th axis up to the controller. It seems that the cable on the end of the motor controlling the rotary attachment has a 4 pin plug which looks as though it should be placed into the socket at the closest end of the machine. The only thing is there is just a single blue wire connected to the socket. Rocket, have you investigated this ? Has your 4th axis seen any work yet ?

I think I need to contact the supplier and check this out.
On the Breakout Board there is a plug for the C-Axis, but nothing is connected. I was told that the 4th Axis would replace either the x-axis or y-axis, but I just can't see how it works yet...

Andre, we do not have the 4th axis on our machines. There is a long discussion about the 4th axis in the Excitech thread ( somewhere ).

Good news about the power. 7k is still a lot of money - but at least it will get your machine running. Cost us 6K to have our 3 machines wired up.

When we pulled the front cover off the Vacuum Pump, never went any further. Saw that it is a basic design. The corrosion is pretty well restricted to the vanes - no big deal. I do not think you will achieve anything by putting the water and soluble oil in the tank until the Pump is running and can circulate it properly.

Rocket.

Since I have taken the Vacuum pump apart, I thought it would be good to post a few photos for those who are interested in seeing its internal workings. There is not all that much to see, its a pretty basic setup. While there looks to a bit of corrosion happening, I think that most of it is just minor surface rust. As Rocket says, once I have the proper fluid running through, it should all settle down. What you see in the photos is basically what you see in the Animation I linked a few post ago. You have the Rotor set off centre, the slot which gradually gets bigger and allows more air to be sucked into the impeller cells, and then the small holes on the other side of the pump for releasing the air/water mixture once it has created the suction...

Andre, Just a bit of water been sitting in there. If you have not put it back together yet it could be a good idea to spray some CRC inside it.

Rocket.

Hi everyone,

I thought i would post a few photos here as the thread i started seemed to move away from the real reason and intent to inform others about my experience with the Chinese manufacturer of my Quick CNC machine.

Anyway, i have only just recieved my machine the assembly now begins (once i get it out of the shipping container). I have read this thread with great interest and i must say that i am well impressed. The photos, descriptions and replys are what i wished my thread could be.........well done to all!!

As you can see from the photos, the machine is a tight fit. The size is 2000x4000x300 with a 4.5kw spindle. I have spec'd this for Mach3, so lets wait and see if the Chinese got i right.

Yep, no instructions supplied, but i kind off expected it. i will post more as time goes on, however only with the permission from Andre09.

Gary Bennett
POLYVISUAL
Perth WA

Hi Gary, welcome to the thread.

I am happy for anyone to participate in the forum, especially if they have something useful to contribute. As you and I both know, its not all that easy to get the information you're really after in order to may a considered decision about who & where to buy from.

That sure is a monster sized machine, even bigger than the "PROCAM 3618E CNC Router". I'll be interested to see what you are going to produce with such a large bed, and how the router performs with the extra height on the Z-Axis.

I'm also considering upgrading the machine to run with a MACH3 controller. The reason I didn't go down that route originally was that I wanted to have a machine that I could see running first, and then proceed from there. I wasn't convinced the chinese had the MACH3 system fully worked out yet. Having said all that, maybe you can shed light on the situation...

Congratulations on your purchase and good luck with the setup...

André.

Today, while I was looking inside my electrical cabinet, I was trying to figure out the wiring and how it all comes together. I have a question to anyone else who uses the DSP as to whether it functions as a Spindle Speed controller, or whether is simply has the ability to turn the spindle On & Off ??
Taney118

Enable F code
Originally Posted by Greolt
You might want to consider letting the DSP take the feed rates from the gcode.

There is a setting on the DSP, I forget what it is but easy to find, to use the feed rates as contained in the gcode.

That way you can have suitable feed rates set up in Vcarve Pro for each tool and they will be output with the gcode.

Greg

Yes, that's convenient to set the working speed automantically. the path is:

MENU---AUTO PRO SETUP---G CODE READ SETUP----READ F , Change is to ENABLE will be ok

This is something I read in the "For newbies - How to operate the Excitech" thread. It seems that it is possible, but I'm thinking that the wiring in my machine has not been setup for this.

In the attached photos of the controller board, someone may see what I mean. In the first photo with the empty board, it is my understanding that the green (7 pin) slot at the top left of the board is used for spindle output functions. It is the J7 slot and has a diagram printed on the board underneath it showing codes. The next photo shows the wiring hooked up to the board, but on the J7 slot, there are only two wires connected, the yellow wire marked "DCM" and the green wire marked "FWD". "FWD" looks to be connected to the "S 0" pin and "DCM" to the "Sp -" pin.

Do I need more wiring for spindle speed control ? The 3rd photo is an excerpt of the circuit diagram for the DSP-0501 which I can't understand fully. It seems as though more cables would need to be connected to attain speed control...

Any advice would be appreciated.

André

Andre,Must admit that i have not attempted to change Spindle Speed on our machines.
The Inverter Pad reads 4,000HZ when the Spindle is running, and with the Process Speed of 5,000mm/min when cutting, it is all vey smooth.

I am now probably game to try it out. Will check it out for you ( and me ) tomorrow.

Rocket.

Gary, Great to see your machine has arrived.

If you do not have the crate out of the container yet - here is a suggestion - Get a couple of large D shackles and some chain. Drill a couple of large holes through a solid part of the base on the crate.
Connect the shackles and the chain together, attach the chain to a forklift and drag the crate out.
Probably best to drag the crate out - rather than risk damaging the machine by trying to pull the machine out of the crate. The steel base on the crate is very strong. Easier to dismantle the crate on the ground.

Rocket.

Hi Rocket and Aundre

Thanks for that suggestion about the holes in the base. I could not drill a hole for the chain as the beam in the base of the machine was sitting right over the skid metal work. Anyways, i got the guys from Prestige Logistics to come and do what they do best, rip that bad boy out from its cave.
I have a sparky coming around Wednesday to plug it in so i hope to get i fired up soon after. Since paper work is non exsistant, confirming the power draw is kind of hit and miss. It has a 40amp switch/breaker for the power in, however it carried 32amp fuse holders for each phase??? Any suggestions or confirmation regarding this would be great.

Gary Bennett
POLYVISUAL
Perth WA

Hi Gary, I have the same setup as you. 32Amp Fuses and a 40Amp main circuit breaker connecting external power.

I think you need to check the Black Tag riveted to the back of your machine for the power rating. Did you buy the Vacuum pump as well ? If so, it may also be connected into the main electrical cabinet. My tag says that I require 15Kw to power the machine. I was unsure of whether this included the Vacuum pump(rated at 5.5Kw) or not. A quick e-mail to the supplier and he confirmed that this 15Kw included the Vacuum Pump. So, One 3 phase line into that external circuit breaker to power the whole machine.

As far as the fuses for each phase go, I think you need to take the Total Power(in my case 15KW) and divide that by three. This will give you the power consumption of the machine per each phase(5 Kw).
Because P(Watts) = V(Volts) x I(Current(amps))
5000 = 240 x I(amps)
I = 20.8 Amps

I don't know if that is 100% correct, but I think its in the ball park.
You just need to look at what your machine tag says and work with that.

Did you purchase a Vacuum pump to go with the Router ? It would have to be pretty massive to hold material on the whole table at the same time, I just worked out that your table is about 2.5 times bigger than mine...

Hi Andre,

Yes i did purchase the water cooled vac pump that apparently drains 11.4amps, however the fuses in my cabinet are 16 amps where yours are 32amps for the pump. The rest is identical. I can only suggest that these cabinets must have a certain standard setup with the allowance for being over spec'd rather than right on the electical limit.
I will keep you informed once i have wired mine and get an accurate measure of what in fact i draws.
For example i purchased a 2.5hp air compressor that claimed it was 15amps single phase. Having a sparky measure the current, the most it would draw was just under 8amps. Again, a Chinese made unit with the same parts of the larger units available......................food for thought i guess.

Gary
POLYVISUAL
Perth WA

Hi Guys,

i have got the Beast fired up and i managed to get it running with Mach3. The vac pump works fine, however i best invest in a check valve to ensure the water will not flow back down the pipe to the table. The MDF sheet in the photo is 1200x2400 for a sizing referance. I have done test cuts and now are ready pump some work through this bad boy so it can pay its rent!.

I will set the dust extraction up soon, as well as start trialing Quantum (MACH3 software with Jerk Velocity settings) to improve smootheness at higher feeds.

Gary Bennett
POLYVISUAL
Perth

I will set the dust extraction up soon, as well as start trialing Quantum (MACH3 software with Jerk Velocity settings) to improve smoothness at higher feeds.


Art is working on a new development Trajectory Planner (Tempest) that he's referred to as Quantum on steroids. There's a test version available, but it has some serious limitations. No Pause, jogging uses standard accels, and possibly a bunch more. However, if you can work around the limitations, it works really well. Last week I ran parts with it for about 7 hours with no problems. I had some parts to cut that CV Mode didn't work very well for me. A combination of very tight inside corners, as well as outside corners and large tangent arcs. By setting Tempest's error tolerance very low (.005), I basically got Exact Stop on all the detailed areas, and CV on all the tangent arcs and lines. Basically, it slowed down where it need to, and didn't when it didn't need to.

With Mach3's regular CV mode, it wanted to stop, or slow down on a lot of the tangent arcs where it didn't need to.

http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,12042.0.html

The latest version is in post #55.
Read through the thread to see how to use it.

Wow!

Gary, You do not mess around.

The blokes from Prestige made the unloading look easy.

I see that the 3 piece pole for the dust extraction fits into tubes welded onto the sides of the gantry. We scratched our heads for hours trying to work out how it fits. Now we know - somebody forgot to weld the tubes onto the gantry. Andre - does your machine have this setup?

Your machine has a 2000mm x 4000mm table. No chance of a full one piece spoilboard. The maximum size MDF is 1800mm x 3600mm. Are you going to settle for that size or make a 2piece board to cover the whole table?

With the water cooled pump are you seeing water gush down the pipe into the machine inlet when you turn it off? Also, does it make a noise like all hell is breaking loose when you turn the Vacuum switch on ( the one under the key )?

Rocket.

Hi Rocket,

I am not supprised to hear that they left your pipes of the gantry. From what i have heard through Chinese machinery importers here in Perth, there is always a finish level of 70-80% no matter what you purchase.

Yes, i do get water coming back down the pipes to the table. I simple put this down to how powerful the pump is, and little lack off thought put into the button arrangement on the controller. What i intend to do is use the button under the key to operate a solenoid that opens to normal atmosphere, this way it will relieve the pressure in the pipes and stop the water back flowing. For an added measure, i will install a check valve also. I figured this out by testing this and using one zone not covered with a spoil board, i opened that port to reduce the vacumm pressure then turned the pump off. This simple test reduced the back flow to about 10% of what it was initially.
As for the spoil board i will use 3 standard 1220x2440 cut to 2040x1220. This way i can replace them in thirds, not halves.

I levelled the bed as you can see by the attached photo, i took 0.6mm off as the bed had a slight dip in it. This i put down to the gantry sitting on the bed as well as the plastic table only being supported by the main beams off the table and not smaller supports in between them. The plastic must have sagged slightly from the weight on top as well as the potentual of high heat in the container. Anyway, no big deal there as after the bed was levelled the 6mm MDF worked well even without the rubber seals that i guess should go in the pre routered channels.

Anything elso i come across i will certainly post here.

Gary Bennett
POLYVISUAL
Perth

I see that the 3 piece pole for the dust extraction fits into tubes welded onto the sides of the gantry. We scratched our heads for hours trying to work out how it fits. Now we know - somebody forgot to weld the tubes onto the gantry. Andre - does your machine have this setup?

Hi Rocket, yes I have the same setup on my machine, with the three steel tubes and two 90 deg. fittings. Both ends of the gantry have tubes welded onto steel plate, which then get bolted on. I don't really like the look of it, but I'm sure its functional.

Gary, the machine is looking great. I like your Logo's, it adds to the overall look of the machine. Did you find it easy to remove the Quick company logo's ? When I ordered mine, I requested that I receive the machine bare, without any of their signs. When the video was posted to me showing the machine running, it was still bare, but when it arrived, someone had painted the logo's on. Oh well, from the look of it, it shouldn't be too hard to remove anyway...

This i put down to the gantry sitting on the bed as well as the plastic table only being supported by the main beams off the table and not smaller supports in between them
Im not quite sure what you mean here when you say that the table is only supported by the main beams...
I had a look at your initial photos from the factory, and I noticed that the cross members were more spread than my table. Looking closer, both tables have 6 cross members. You would think that there would be at least 2 or 3 more on your table given that it can cut 4m as opposed to 2.5m. So is what you're saying that they don't support the table at all ? Because my table is fully supported by those cross members.. One of the videos that I posted earlier shows the black material they lay on top of the beams being machined flat...

And by the sounds of it, you have had success with the vacuum pump, would you recommend it ? Does it have enough suction for what you need ?

Rocket, did you have any luck controlling spindle speed with DSP ?

Hi Andre,

I think maybe an extra beam down the length of the machine would have been an advantage, however as time goes on i will no doubt replace the top and re design the lock down slots. Having said that, there is nothing overly wrong with the design, but with my varied work i could suggest that it may be adapted for more repeat work with more permament lockdown locations.
As for the vac pump, its too early to form a concrete opinion. As soom as it starts playing up, you guys will be the first to know. Check valve is a must!!!

I have moved over to Mach3 QUANTUM. This is working well in its early stages. My mates Haydn and Peter called around today and we messed with the stepper controller settings, this improved the motion 10 fold. Once i have become satisfied with how it is working, i will post my findings.

Gary Bennett
POLYVISUAL
Perth

Hi Gary, there is one thing thats concerns me about the design of our machines and that is the way the Y-Axis rails are exposed to debris from the router. Other designs have a cover so that the dust etc goes over the top of the rails, but in our case there is no such protection. Do you think whis will become an issue ? because I dont think it would be easy to cover our rails...

On the subject of MACH3/Quantum control software, it will be very interesting to see how you get along. I read a little about this Quantum version of the software and it appears that it may not be suitable for beginners like me. Although its advantages are appealing...

Would you be able to photgraph the Breakout board so that we can see how its wired up ? Since I have the DSP controller, I'll use it to begin with, but then hope to transition to MACH3 or similar.

I also plan to build my own router sooner or later as well, which will be controlled using MACH3. I'd like a router that will work in a similar way to the Woodrat http://www.woodrat.com/ or Router Boss http://www.chipsfly.com/ so that i can do joinery work, utilising both the K60MT & my own machine to make all kinds of furniture. Actually, I ordered longer rails on my machine so that I could fix material to the end of the machine so that it sits up vertically in order to get the same result. The spindle travels about 70mm in front of the bed. This link will give you an Idea of what I'm trying to achieve: YouTube - ShopBot Cutting Dovetails Whether this works out or not is yet to be seen.....

Anyway, keep us informed of your progress.
It must have been pretty cool showing off your new toy on the weekend...

Hi Andre,

The issues you think you will have with the rails is not quite that bad. I have run a Thermwood Model 67 for the best part of 10 years, this had exposed ball screws and rails that never in my time caused any mechanical issues related to the swarf and dust. Also, during that time i run a Teckcel that had a pathetic brush system that covered the ball screw and rails. This actually was worse as the swarf got in and was hard to get out. Adding the fact that the " out of site, out of mind " theory come into play as well. I pretty much had to strip the machine at times to free up the binding axises. Dont panic, just be aware and get into a routine of cleaning them down, it only takes a few minutes!!!.

I will get the photo of the break out board uploaded soon. Also, with Mach 3, i used that on a machine i built about 2 years ago. Since it run with no issues and was easy to use i told the Quick CNC to spec it for my machine. I think that i will have lots of tuning to do as i am sure that they only just got in to move, not run efficently.

This link is where i first started before i even knew about cnczone, i dealt with Steve fro Lowcostcncretrofits in Queensland, he was and still is a great help. I use the pendant he sell to drive both machines. My build is about halfway down this page,
http://www.lowcostcncretrofits.com/customerspicsvideo2.html

Gary Bennett
POLYVISUAL
Perth

andre, gary campbell (who made that dovetail video) sent me that dovetail jig and i have it in my shop, after much effort i have gone back to making dovetails with my powermatic dovetail machine. just a heads up. if you want any detail photos let me know as i am sending it to another soul soon

jim

Gary, your build on http://www.lowcostcncretrofits.com/customerspicsvideo2.html really looks awesome. Im surprised that given you have the knowledge to build your own, and to such a high standard that you still chose to purchase from Quick. Was that because of the time/cost benefit ? btw, I am familiar with the www.lowcostcncretrofits.com website, and was considering purchasing from them if I were to build. The only thing is there is very little on the forums or anywhere else in terms of feedback about their products. The same goes for the people at www.machmotion.com/, who seem to offer a solid system for the electronics. So, if you can vouch for Steve in Queensland, I think I'd be happy to deal with him in future. I like the look of their pendants, simple and strong...

Hi Jim, was there a reason you went back to your Powermatic ? I'm interested in building such a device to do all kinds of work, including dovetails, tenons, holes for dowels, basically anything that I could do if I had the ability to attach an aggregate head to the spindle.... What is your overall opinion of this concept at the end of the machine bed ?

Hi Andre,

I sure can vouch for Steve at lowcostcncretrofits, he hase offered great advice and service. To be truthful, my first build would have not got of the ground if he did not look after me the way he did. The pendant is fantastic, i had him extend the lead up to 4 meters for the Quick CNC. Works well!!

In regard to why i chose a Quick CNC, the answers are simple. Exitech did not do it for me after Taney moved on. I recieved many recommendations to deal with him where ever he goes, and i am glad i did. The price was a huge factor also, purchasing materials to this size machine is insane at western prices. Since i now run a business full time, finding time to "play" with a machine in the form of a build was out of the question.

I attached a photo of a small letter in 6mm acrylic i cut today.

More photos coming soon!!

dovetails on a cnc are a futile effort, i have the powermatic dovetail machine and with reload and start time the operator ran circles aroung the cnc jig.

jim

Hi Jim, I conceed that in the end you may be correct in what your saying about cutting dovetails. But I'm still keen to try. Whether its an attachment to my existing router, or whether I design a new router specialy for cutting joinery, we'll see. Since owning the Woodrat, this idea of automating it has been stuck in my head.....

Gary, just checking in to see how things are going down your way. Have you had the time to do some serious work with your machine yet ? I was impressed by the letters you showed us in your photo, were they held down with the vacuum or did you have to use tabs ? Are you happy with the quality of cut your getting ?

I'm still waiting for my machine to be powered up, its getting a little frustrating now. I've had my machines since the 2nd October, and have yet to see it do anything... Hopefully the utility company wil come through for me soon...

In regard to why i chose a Quick CNC, the answers are simple. Exitech did not do it for me after Taney moved on. I recieved many recommendations to deal with him where ever he goes, and i am glad i did. The price was a huge factor also, purchasing materials to this size machine is insane at western prices. Since i now run a business full time, finding time to "play" with a machine in the form of a build was out of the question.

When I started dealing with chinese companies, I also spoke to the people at Excitech. I was really close to purchasing the SHM1325A, but started having doubts when I went to see one of their machines in person here in Melbourne. The customer told me that he had bought a great machine, but one major problem he had was that the wiring to the spindle was back to front, causing the spindle to rotate in the wrong direction. He was not an experienced CNC operator, so it took him time to figure out what was wrong. When he finally did, the spindle had been damaged. He was then given the run around by the company who wanted to charge somewhere in the order of $1,500 to have the spindle replaced, something they should have replaced free of charge in my opinion, as it was they who had made the mistake. In the end(after I made mention of my concerns to the salesperson), to Excitech's credit, they did come through I believe.

I was also worried when I read of how many sales people had left the company. Usually when people start leaving, its not a good sign, and finding this out didn't give me a whole lot of confidence.

I was still however, prepared to go through with the purchase, until I came across the K60MT, which is not a machine Excitech sell. I got the info I needed and the salesperson I dealt with was Taney, formerly of Excitech. Given his good reputation on this forum, I felt that this was going to be my best avenue of purchase. Hence the reason I went with Jinan Quick CNC Co.

If Excitech sold the same machine, I most probably would have gone with them. The difference in price is approx. $2,000 USD between the SHM1325A & the K60MT(2500 x 1300). I do feel also that Taney was able to provide better information about his product than the person I dealt with at Excitech.

As it stands now, I am happy with my purchase decision. I feel that I will soon have the knowledge to be able to build my own, so if time permits in the future, that is probably the route I would take. Although as you mentioned Gary, time is always the Constraint...

Thats enough ranting from me, If i had it my way, we'd be discussing the performance of the machine, which is what I will do as soon as I get power..

André

Hi Aundre,

I have been busy with the dust extraction at the moment. I purchsed a 5hp unit for $785 from Beyond Tools here in Perth. I went to the local Bunnings store and grabbed 100mm pipe to plumb it all up. I have not yet had time to fetch the proper fexible pipe to hang from the roof, however i should get it before the weekend........fingers crossed.
I managed to have a play with some files Haydn sent me so i am now the proud owner of a ACM dinosaur.
I have been busy trying to finish my signage as i keep falling behind on it with customers needing their parts.
I also installed a check valve to the vac pump so now it works quite well.
I have an idea with the spoil board and i will post photos regarding that soon.

Gary Bennett
POLYVISUAL
Perth WA

Hi Gary, your setup is looking good. Is that Dinosaur like the test of a New machine ?? Once you've made the dinosaur, you've really made it ?? :) The Parson... Brin... sign looks amazing btw...

I too need to buy myself a new dust extractor, so can I get your opinion on how the 5hp model is performing. What CFM is it rated at ? I have seen some extractors that you can buy for round the $800 mark like yours, then there are other models with similar CFM ratings and they cost over $2,000. Other than containing more of the micro particles, I wonder if there is any justification in the price difference.. I was also considering using 100mm plastic pipe as its heaps cheaper than the flexible hose and it it looks as though it would perform in the same way..

Could you show a photo of the check valve to give us an idea of how you've gone about it ? and does this mean that the pump has your thumbs up now ???

I think i'm getting closer to powering up now, I can see an end to it.. Its a great asset for me to have a similar machine here in Australia. Hopefully I'll be able to bounce some ideas your way soon too...

André

btw Rocket are you still around ? Its been quiet on the forums lately without you....

Hi Andre, I am sitting on the sidelines enjoying the exchanges between yourself and Gary. I am humbled by the knowledge youy both have with the mechanicals and electronics of the machines.

I also am amazed at the work that Gary is doing. Need to make some new signs at work. Where does one buy that Acrylic Sheet to cut the letters?

Taney has advised that the Vacuum Pump is on the way, so we will crank up the Quick CNC 1500x3000 machine early December.

Rocket.

Gary,

I think I have the little brother to your machine :) my JCut 1836 was manufactured and shipped in late Sept.

I decided to cut up the Vacuum tank and pump to relocate them in the vacant space under the gantry home position.

I have had no success what so ever in getting any useful instructions out of the manufacturer ( now there is a surprise) on how the Vacuum system is supposed to operate.

While running conduit under my table I was rather dissappointed at the quality of the welding - looks like they used a kid,a mig and no gas. If I get time later on I will probably have to re do it but for the time being it isn't going anywhere.

Love the images of the acrylic signage - what depth are the letters?

Peter

Hi Peter / Rocket / Andre,

It has been a while since i have posted as i have been flat out. The acrylic is 25mm thick with polished edges. You can get the materials from Mulfords, Plastral or Australian Sheet Traders in most states. If you dont want to pay big bucks for a full sheet, find your local plastics fabricator and a carton of piss is great currency on a Friday arvo. I wont post on the forum how i achieved the bubbleless gluing as local prying eyes are now watching my every move and what i am up to.
The jury is still out on the vac pump, sure it can suck a golf ball through garden hose, but for how long??. The way it works in my opinion is the induction motor does nothing more than turn an impeller in a cavity full off water. It must rely on the restriced flow of water entering from the storage tank combined with the air from the bed, since the impeller has such high output, the volume of air must be atleast 5 - 10 times ( a guess ) that of the water since the oulet shows the water spitting out rather than dripping. The pump i believe is meant to run quite warm as mine does, however the heat is restricted to the water tank only. The massive rush of air entering the head keeps it quite cool. Make sure that the motor is turning the right way as it will still make vacuum running backwards, just not as much. Looking from the motor end, clockwise rotation. I think the BULL**** the chinese put us through is totally unnessecary in regards to manuals, i mean they copy everything known to man, so why cant they just copy a manual??.
The dust extractor is working like a charm, i will make a new nozzle like i made for the machine i built, photos will follow. The chinese unit is okay if you use long cutters.
I am still mucking around with Mach 3 Quantum and the spindle is taking the longest. I have the spindle turning on and off as well as manual stop on the keypad, the variable speed is working well manually, however i would rather include the S value in the posts. Any clues would be great, again, Chin-glish manuals have one place, on your toilet roll holder!!!.
The next toy is the rotary axis, i have been working on the CAD side and think i have got the basics covered. This i will adapt to the machine i built and at a guess the size it could mill will be 2500 long x 600-800 diameter.

Cheers guys

Gary Bennett
POLYVISUAL
Perth
WA

Hi There All,

I'm just about to take delivery of a 1336, should be here early in the new year. As per everyones advice, I opted for FCL shipping, and appointed a local agent. I hope it will keep my costs down. Sky Gazer stays just around the corner from me, he was hit with a "mysterious" $3K additional charge, over and above the normal charges on this side.

I opted for the bellowed rails version, as I mainly want to cut alu sheet metal, I'm in the aircraft kit building industry. The machine is equipped with a 4.5kW spindle, driven by a Talent Inverter.

Myself and Sky Gazer have opted to not even start up the Chinese software, we tossed his in a box, without even opening it. My first CNC router experience was a Step-Four Basic-540 3-axis router, and a CNC 4-axis foam cutter. I converted the original DOS operating system, and archaic control box to DeskCNC. I had perfect joy using the DeskCNC software to create my toolpaths, and use the DeskCNC 2nd generation card as the G-code interpreter. We decided to convert our J-Cut machines to DeskCNC.

We have now sucessfully run the 3 axis of Sky Gazer's 1836 with DeskCNC. The next stage is to get the spindle driven from the DeskCNC PWM output. We have a PWM to 0-10VDC converter card, which should now drive the Talent Inverter.

My 2 stumbling blocks are, I have the inverter manual in Chinese, and I can't figure out how to start the spindle up in manual mode, from the little keypad. Has anyone got some instructions for me. The second question, how do I change the inverter control over to external input mode, to be able to drive it with the 0-10VDC signal from DeskCNC? The talent-HK.com website is down, due to some or other internet clampdown in Beijing.

Any help in supplying operating instructions for the Talent inverter will be appreciated.

Regards,

Francois

Hi All
I'm from Russia I want to say thank you Taney (tomhua_1@hotmail.com) for his help in the selection and purchase of QuickCNC K60MT for my workshop.

http://cnczone.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=96783&stc=1&d=1262745085
Я Дмитрий из России, хочу сказать большое спасибо Taney (tomhua_1@hotmail.com)за помощь в выборе и приобретении QuickCNC K60MT для моей мастерской.

thanks dima i enjoyed looking at the pictures of russia, here in the US i am always interested in how woodworking is there!! thank you

jim

dimaP nice machine you have there.....excelent picture....i have one question...you have a 4th axis addone.....tell me what kind of controller you have dsp sitem or mach3????and if you have dsp tell me if you have futures for 4th axis in the firmware of the dsp...i am searching for a firmware version that support's 4th axis...tx ...best regard's from romania:P

Hi mecanicu, the DSP 4th axis system is not a real 4th axis you can not work the Y axis and rotary together. When you run the Y axis you can not use rotary when you use rotary, you can not use Y axis so it is the same like you remove the plug and connect to rotary even faster
you can see use rotary on next link http://www.cnczone.ru/forums/index.php?showtopic=560&view=findpost&p=7211

Hi Folks,

I'm now a proud owner of a K60MT 1.5m x 4m x .4m envelope machine. My post here has some photographs. Need to give details when I have a moment to rest.
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showpost.php?p=717361&postcount=10

I would really appreciate your inputs on some of the questions there.

Thanks a bunch,
Nash

.

Dear old sports,

We now have one customer in Russia selling our machines, so if you are from Russia and have interests to Quick CNC router, pls contact with him, his website is: quickcnc.ru (http://www.quickcnc.ru)

Dear old sports,

We now have one customer in Russia selling our machines, so if you are from Russia and have interests to Quick CNC router, pls contact with him, his website is: www.quickcnc.ru (http://www.quickcnc.ru)

Hi Andre09

How is your experience with Jinan Quick CNC? Is the machine good? What about the technical service if you need it, are they helpful?

Thank you

Purnama_Cam