Any experiences with CNC 6040 ROUTER?

[MarcusWolschon]

I would try HDD access and network load causing interrupts.
The CPU should not be the limiting factor.
(Timing is the reason why I replaced the LPT breakout board with a USB board that does the timing in hardware, getting commands instead of step+dir pulses from MACH3)

[Rodtp]

Thanks for the input. The machine arrived damaged, damage was inflicted by being dropped or hit heavily before packaging. The Z axix spindle was bent 45 degrees. New ball screw sent and fitted. I replaced the optical parallel port isolator power supply with it's own power supply rather than use a USB source. The machine tested OK using computer I use for a CNC mill. I haven't used the router since.

[MarcusWolschon]

I finished upgrading my CNC6040 to the PLCM-E3 and B1 boards.
Tales of a modern life: CNC6040 upgrade
Lifting all the limitations of the original electronics (Ethernet, no timing done in the PC, proper optocouplers, proper connectors, more axis, tons of inputs and outputs, 6 relays to control water cooling and mist cooling)

[leapnlarry]

It seems like most of the posts are talking about the older 6040 with the Blue box. Does anyone have any experience with this new version of the 6040 with the black box controller.

I am hoping that this machine from Yoocnc X6-1500 X4-800 3020 3040 6040 series - carving-cnc.com does not need all the upgrades like the g540.

here is a link to the machine.
CNC X6-1500GT-USB (4-Axes-Version) router engraver drilling and milling machine - carving-cnc.com

[aarggh]

It seems like most of the posts are talking about the older 6040 with the Blue box. Does anyone have any experience with this new version of the 6040 with the black box controller.

From what I've seen and read on the forums, the machine you've linked to at Carving-cnc is ready to go and doesn't have any of the issues of the cheaper ones. According to Carving, they claim they sell the genuine YOOCNC controller, not the blue box controller that's worthless. I bought the cheaper bluebox version, but it suited me as I changed to a G540, but the Carving ones do look very good.

cheer, Ian

[Adverse Effects]

from what i have read they still at times have cable breaking problems and you stall can not wind them up to the speeds the stepper motors can go at reliably

that being said they are 100% better than the blue box but i think i saw some one saying you still need to earth every in a certain way just carnt remember where i saw it

[Bob La Londe]

I believe the Chinese makers just cycle through "appearance" changes every year or so to confuse things for buyers.

For example. The infamous "blue board" is basically the same thing as the infamous "red board" controller. Neither work right, but if you want to spend a lot of time rebuilding it you can get it to work.

If you want to buy a rock solid ready to go 6040 (apx) it costs a lot more than the average Chinese import 6040, but you can change the controller, upgrade the motors, and power supply, and then you have something decent for a "little" less than buying a solid unit to begin with if you count your time at about 10¢ per hour. Even then most of the Chinese builders use a variety of shortcuts in mechanical assembley as well that you may need to tweak and/or modify to make them spot on. I have a Chinese router and I use it for some things, but I bought mine as a learning experience. I didn't have any false hopes that it was an awesome machine right out of the crate for a fraction of the cost of other similar size machines.

[leapnlarry]

Thanks for the responses. This will be my first cnc and i will also be using it as a learning experience, stepper motors, controllers, spindles, software. But i dont want to spend $2200 on a piece of junk either. I am prepared to change out the wiring, as this seems to be a major issue regardless of which chinese machine you buy.

A few more questons.

1. I am going to use an extra desktop windows machine to run the cnc, which currently has windows 7 64 bit. Is it ok to run windows 7 64 bit or do i need to load a 32 bit version.

2. I believe the chinese machine comes with a hacked version of mach 3, will this run on a window 7 64 bit machine also?

3. Which is the best cad program to use? I was going to use solidworks but some friends are using catia because that is what they are using at school.

4 Where is the best place to buy mills, drills, collets etc for this machine?

5. I was going to get the USB version of the 6040, has anyone had a problem with the USB version vs the parrallel port version

thanks in advance.

larry

[Bob La Londe]

Windows 7 64 Bit does not support parrallel port operation for Mach 3. If you add a USB or ethernet external motion controller then you can use it. I have a mill running 7/64 with an Ethernet Smoothstepper.

Whether or not the hacked illegal bootleg will run on 7/64 or not is debatable. Mine came with a very old version of Mach and it was flaky. I upgraded and bought a license and it was better, but it was even better yet when I changed controller, steppers, and added a USB smoothstepper. A Mach 3 license is only $175.00 (cheaper from some resellers). Just go legit right away and be done with that headache.

Catia and Solidworks both have followings. If I recall both are pretty expensive. There really is no "best." I use ViaCad 2d/3d v9 Pro myself because it works and its affordable. Remember that you need CAM too. I like CamBam for the price, but if you can afford Solidworks maybe you can afford a CAM plug-in to go with Solidworks.

There is no "best" place to buy endmills persay, but I buy a lot of the ones I use on Ebay from a number of venders. I've had good luck from Sun Coast Precision, Drillman, Rogersnf, and a few others.

I think you will have no choice, but to use the USB version with 7/64. PP doesn't work with the 64 bit version. As to how well it works. Who knows? I am sure they are not using a Smoothstepper, but there is a cheaper single LPT equivelant USB motion controller (UC100 I think) around that seems to work ok. Hopefully they are using the one that works instead of a poorly reverse engineering knockoff.

And the question you didn't ask. Yes, I think you should plan about $1000 for upgrades to your import 6040.

-

[aarggh]

I've found the 6040's represent a value that cannot be matched anywhere else, regardless of the garbage blue box controllers.

Mechanically they are generally pretty damn good, with good rails and ballscrews, (although I had to shim one side of mine). The only detractor is some come with a crappy low voltage DC brushed spindle. One of these machines with a decent 800w water cooled spindle, combined with a $300 Gecko G540, makes an awesomely cheap and very usable machine. When I did mine, I bought some extra connectors for a few bucks and made up some short extension cables for the steppers/gecko rewiring, so I didn't have to pull everything apart.

For us in OZ, the Shark Pro, (made of plastic!) here in OZ sells for 3-4 times the cost of a 6040, so yeah, they're pretty damn good value in my book, and they absolutely rock with a G540!

cheers, Ian

[leapnlarry]

Thanks for your advice, it sounds like it would be better to purchase the frame and quality electronic items separately.

CNC6040-S80 Mainbody with 80mm spindle holder from Yoocnc X6-1500 X4-800 3020 3040 6040 series - carving-cnc.com shipped from china to usa $1203



3 axis nema 23 kit from CNCRouterParts $519


What's included
48V 7.3A switching power supply
Gecko G540 4 axis stepper motor driver
3 High-torque Nema 23 380 oz-in stepper motors, or our new even better low inductance 320 oz-in motors. These motors already have the current set resistors installed in the connectors. No soldering or crimping required. These are optimized for the G540 -- don't get caught up in the stall torque game, since your motors don't run at stall! Both motors use all of the 3.5A the G540 has to offer.
3 High-performance flexible motor cables: (1) 6'and (2) 12' cables

Smooth stepper for nema 23 g540 $200


2.2kw water cooled spindle (80mm diameter) with inverter VFD from Build Your CNC - CNC Router Kits, CNC Machine Kits, Laser Cutter and Engraver and 3D Printer $568


Mach 3 Software $170




I can build the enclosure myself

Frame $1203
electronics kit $519
Smooth stepper $200
Mach 3 $170
Spindle with vfd $568

Total Cost $2660

[aarggh]

These machines although made of aluminium are still somewhat small, and I'd consider a 2.2kw spindle a fair amount of dead weight for the Z axis, let alone the inertia and sheer power of it compared to the grunt of the machine and steppers.

Normally these are supplied with a 800w air/water cooled spindle, or the crappy DC spindle, I'would consider maybe the 1.5kw the highest I'd go for one of these machines myself. 2.2kw is huge, and compared to the machine would be way overkill. I'd also think though you should be able to do a lot better on the pricing off Ebay there too. From memory I've bought 1.5/2.2kw spindle/VFD combos for around $325-$375 a set. Seeing as they're all Huangyaung VFD's anyway (I'm pretty sure I misspelled that) just pick a seller with good feedback.

My 2c anyway just based on my experiences. I don't see the point in paying more for essentially the identical items.

For comparison, my 300kg 6090 cnc has a 1.5kw spindle, and I can assure you it's more than adequate for everything I've thrown at it over the years.

cheers, Ian

[aarggh]

Don't know what it is but I'm having all kinds of weird trouble posting today!

I just noticed you have both a smooth stepper and a G540 in your BOM, all you need is the G540, that has the 4 drivers, as well as the breakout/interface/buffer board to connect to the parallel port, so you can save $200 there. If you included the Smoothstepper because you were wanting to use USB instead of parallel, I'd strongly consider just picking up a $20 P4 desktop to use as a dedicated Mach3 station, and just go with the G540 on it's own. Keep it simple.

cheers, Ian

[Bob La Londe]

Wondows 7 64 bit and Windows 8 will not work with a parrallel port control.

FYI I have a smooth stepper feeding a G540 on one of my machines.

[aarggh]

The copy of WinXP that will come free with the $20 PC will work with the parallel port though, and then you don't need the Smoothstepper at all.

Horses for course though, everyone's needs are different, so I'm simply basing my remarks on what I do, or would do in the same situation, as I keep a number of old P4's around for just that purpose. Especially as they all have the WinXP license stickers on the case, but partly cause i'm a cheapskate!

cheers, Ian

[Adverse Effects]

i have some old P4's some with XP and some with win2K
i have tryed mach3 on 2K , XP , 7

2K hands down was nice and fast no problems at all
XP was a little slower with no real problems
7 was slow and i gave up on it after an hour of trying to get it to run the mill as fast and smooth as 2K and XP

this is why i have 5 old computers fully formatted and set up ready to go (old systems can fail with out notice some times lol) so i am set for a few years at lest haha

[leapnlarry]

The reason i put the 2.2kw spindle in there is because the company i quoted were out of stock of the 1.5kw spindle. here is one if found on ebay $375 shipped to usa from china.
Attachment 243194
The reason i have the smooth stepper in there is because the computer i am going use is windows 7 64 bit machine i built a couple of years ago, its a fast machine and it would be a shame to go back to win xp.

I could also install a parrallel port card in the computer instead, to save some money, but that wont work on the win 7 64, I could install the 32 bit version.

I also have several old computers around the house and a stack of old motherboards with parrallel ports i could build a win xp machine around if i needed to.

is there any other advantage of the smooth stepper besides being able to connect by ethernet?

are there any other ways to hook up the Gecko g540 to the computer with usb?

[Bob La Londe]

A smooth stepper has inputs and outputs for 2 full parallel ports, and inputs for a third. If you run your machine its raw state all you need is one parallel port worth of inputs and outputs, but the extra signal paths can be quite handy if you start adding stuff to your machine. The biggest advantage to the Smoothstepper though is that it handles a lot of the pulse stream and timing that would be handled by the PC processor otherwise. You can often run faster and with less problems using a Smoothstepper.

[Adverse Effects]

i was just thinking

2 question that has not been asked is

"what do you want to do with it?"

"what materials do you want to cut and up to what size?"

[leapnlarry]

As far as what i want to do with the router. I make parts and designs for RC cars, planes and helicopters

I am working on a stabilized gimbal and some different quadcopter designs

I need to cut out small peices in the 20-100 mm range out of 2 -3 mm aluminum sheet and out of 2mm, 3mm and 4mm carbon fiber sheet.

In these pieces, there will be 3mm drilled holes that will have to be very precise.

some pieces will be different types of plastic in 3 dimensional shapes, but we mostly use the 3d printer for that.


I may need to do some 3 dimensional stuff out of aluminum later, but i am planning on buying a cnc lathe for that stuff.

Carbon fiber sheet is the one i need the most, hard to cut cleanly without a cnc router and makes lots of toxic dust when cutting manually with a dremel