Thanks
ericks, I bought a HF31, a good lump of iron but may have to downsize when I move house, I've spent more on tooling and fixtures now than buying the machine!!
Thanks
HM32 actually, I forgot the correct name.
General engineering and sub contract work in Victoria, Australia.
OK - all over bar the shouting - I'll tell all generally if anyone wants details I'll re read the invoices.
Cost US $3900.00 (including upgraded Al top $300.00 ) came out to just under $5k.Today it's just over.
Freight Aus $ 215.00
Delivery Aus $ 520.00 to Regional NSW
Other port and and customs charges incl GST and fees brought the total to $1900.00
Crane Aus $150.00
so the machine is on my workbench for $7k
The only comparable DIY setups cost over US$6k (CncRouterParts pro, Oltrogge) and thenj ship etc and assemnble. Also I had had hands on with a couple of these previously. This one is small, 6090, but a 'proper' machine.
Now here's the unexpected!! An industrial strength dust collector was included!! While this is good, it's bad because I have a set up in place and nowhere to put it and it's a two person job too carry it anywhere. There was no mention of this ever. But I'm not sending it back!
what happened next - the supplied clamps didn't fit because of the upgraded Al table top. So I will have a lot of grinding to do . Maybe 1ml off each side.
Setup was straight forward.
First try - there was an issue with the Y axis. It wouldn't home properly and moved only in the Y- direction.
Limit switches all worked.
I contacted SD via Whatsapp and was advised to swap the x and y axes connections as shown. This meant swapping the components because the wiring was cut to length. The components were impossible to remove conventionally because I reckoned they were screwed down with a driver from hell. An engineering friend and I drilled out the screws to do the swap. (this didn't take long) the screwdown will be repaired in a day or two. There was no change.
Next thing advised was to to swap X and Y axes on the controller board as shown. This was fiddly again because the wires were cut to length and the connections are very fiddly for a complete knownothing electronically. (me).
Resetting the wiring was a pain and I soldered the ends to be able to push them into the connectors. This time no Y movement at all. I assume I stuffed up the re-connection.
Then I had to go to the Gold Coast for two weeks to help out my daughter.
Having just returned I decided I'd clean up my sloppy soldering and makes sure I attached things properly before trying anything else. This I did, and lo and behold the thing purrs like a charm in all axes.
The upshot is that somewhere in the board from the Hand held controller or (maybe the plug) there was a dodgy connection. Maybe bumped in shipping - I'll never know - but now the machine homes as it should. In the next few days i'll reset the drivers and do a test cut.
While the kerfuffle was unwelcome it wasn't a terrible thing and the suppliers were very keen to help - all be it from China.
This is what has happened to date. It hasn't put me off at all - rather I am slightly more confident around the machine and I have an extra dust collecting system ) .
Lael - personal message - for some reason my reply kept getting bounced. I have a little trouble with The site in the last few days.
I'll keep trying to answer your messsage.
So, you is now one happy chappie.....LOL......as I've been down the direct import path myself 2 years back I can sympathise with all the problems that could occur.........having a shipping agent handle the stuff and the brokerage by the experts, even if it cost a bob or two, does oil the way somewhat......best of luck.
Ian.