Are you glad to have bought a Chinese made CNC Router?

[rocket67]

Hi Guys, This thread probably applies mostly to those of us outside the USA, who do not have access to the CNC Routers manufactured by the many suppliers there, or even a selection of good used machines.

On our side of the world we have 3 choices.

1) Pay a minimum of $74,000 for an Aussie Built machine. (Commercial Size. No idea how much the small machines cost )

2) Build our own machine. Very time consuming - IF you have the knowledge and expertise to do so.

3) Buy and Import a machine from China at a very low price. The preferred option for many of us.

Writing as a person who has personally Imported 4 of these machines, i can honestly write that it has worked out very well for myself and our family business. We are very glad that we bought them!

On another thread this week, a particular supplier has come under attack due to customer service issues such as not answering Emails or failing to follow through with delivering items as promised. I was one of the complainers - but it is possible that it was one person trying to have a crack at me. That`s OK, i am a big boy.

There were also complaints of poorly tapped holes and cross threaded bolts, in other words - quality control issues, and also some owners who had messed with their DSP Controllers and created their own problems with it. I know - you feel it should be able to be reprogrammed by the owner. No argument from me on that point.

These problems have probably had a negative influence on intending machine buyers. Hopefully the Chinese manufacturers will address these issues and convince us that they do indeed care about their customers.

So my Question to owners of Chinese machines is this - Are you glad to have bought your machine from China? If not - why not? Do you feel that you had a better option?

The purpose of this thread is not to bash the Chinese machines, just your opinion after receiving and using your machine. Both the good and bad points.

Chinese manufacturers - Please absorb this information and make improvements where necessary.

Rocket.

[rocabig]

Bought mine a few years back as a toy to play with now it is has taken over and is the main income provider

apart from a stepper motor shaft breaking in the first few weeks of ownership no problems have occured. would buy again if i had the space to put another one.

Richard

[rocket67]

Richard, Thanks for posting mate.

You obviously enjoy what you are doing. I hope your business continues to expand.

I was really hoping that a lot of people would post on this thread. Every business in the world has the occasional quality control issue. It is how the issue is dealt with that sorts the good business from the bad. I sure as hell do not want to deal with a business that continually lets their customers down.

There must be at least 50 people who have posted about buying their Chinese made machine in the last couple of years. Feedback about your experience with the machines good or bad would go a long way toward helping manufacturers to make their product better. I really believe the vast majority of owners are glad they bought the machines, but the lack of responses so far makes me wonder why?

Come on guys - Fire up!! How do you like your machine?

Rocket.

[neilw20]

Not a router, but a Syil SX3 with 3600 RPM, Mach3
Wife now assisting operating it 4 hours per day. Z precision repeating to 2 microns! with some coaxing.

Once connectors are re crimped, screws tightened, XY slides scraped it is really accurate and reliable.

4th axis does carbide mill (3FL 10mm) cutter retipping.

I need a second one, so that I can run 2 at the same time. Production + tool grinding.

Don't want an X4. I must rotate the head and have the quill.

Had it 2-1/2 years (if i can remember rightly)

Got one of those ex centerlink kiosk touch screen. Great once dust proofed.

[nash]

Rocket, Looking forward to contributing to this thread as soon as my router is in... now for the nail-biting-gut-wrenching wait...

BTW, some precision parts, which will not be done on this router, of mine are now in production in China and I'm delighted to work with the Chinese. Take a look at the quality of their stuff on my site.

N

[excav]

Hi Rocket,

We have 2 routers from 2 different chinese manufacturers (the same 2 manufacturers that you have purchased from.

First router arrived back in early 2007 had okay communication with china including some phone calls they made to us. This was prior to arrival of machine in Aussie. After arrival we had problems trying to work the dsp (like everybody else) but when we contacted the company there was zero reponce to email, we even tryed phoning the sales guy who rang us, but when they answered they couldn't or wouldn't speak english. Was quite amusing really. We eventually were able to get a bloke to convert it to run on mach 3

Second machine arrived middle of this year from second chinese company, excellent email communication untill after arrival when we contacted them about rust on the linear rails and a few minor missing parts. Then the communication became a lot slower with a lot of promises made including several which included TNT tracking numbers for supposed parts being already on the way, all of which were false and no parts ever turned up.

That is a brief summary of our dealings with the chinese.
Are we unhappy for ordering these machines, no way, they are the best investment we have ever made.
The machines themselves have run fantastic apart from initial adjustments and modifications and a couple of assembly issues they have more than paid for themselves.
In the end I guess it depends on your nature, if you are prepared to take a bit of an initial risk and expect to get your head round a few problems these machines are well worth it.
Initially when you get the machine and have a problem facing you, you think what have I done, especially when you realise there is no support from china.
But when you eventually sort the problem out with help from all the great people on forums like this you realise the world was never going to end and that apart from having an excellent machine you now have a lot better understanding of it than you would probably ever have of an exspensive USA or other commercial machine, which in itself will pay dividends down the track.

Just my thoughts.

Regards,
Neil

[rocket67]

For those of you who do not know neilw20, I can write that i had the pleasure to meet him at the CNC BBQ in Melbourne last year. neilw20 is a CNC fanatic -and a genuine Aussie bloke! neil -great to read that your wife is also an integral part of your business, and that you are both going great guns with the Syil SX3 Milling machine. I hope that you both enjoy continued success.
Please come to Adelaide in April next year for the South Australian CNC BBQ. The invite is for all CNCZone members. We met lots of excellent people in Melbourne last year, and hope that you can all attend. A good time is absolutely guaranteed.

nash, I look forward to reading your posts on this Forum. Had a look at your you tube videos. That looks to be excellent work. Very intricate. There are a few blokes building aircraft of different types with their CNC Routers. Lets all see the finished products as you get them done.


Excav, Thanks for posting. You obviously feel the same way that we do about the Chinese machines - Best investment you ever made. I will second that!
I have often read that the Chinese Manufacturers do not answer Emails after the purchase. My experience with Quick has been the opposite. Taney is fast to answer any Email queries that i have ever had. I consider him a true friend!
The DSP is quite simple and reliable to use. People only get into trouble with it when they play around with it. The instructions possibly are a cause of this. They tell you to download a program within it. New machine owners - forget that! It is as simple as - when you see the message on the screen asking - Go to Home? - press the Home button! It is actually a command. The machine will not do anything until you obey the command. I suggest do not try to download the Host program to operate it from your computer. The USB stick works just fine.
If any new machine owners cannot get an Email response from China with any queries - send me a private message on the Forum here. I will help you to work it out.

Chinese Manufacturers please take note - Ignore Emails at your peril! Your customers and potential customers need to be treated properly! YOUR future depends on it!

Rocket.

[Big S]

I would have posted sooner, but I was thinking about my reply.

I originally intended to build my own CNC router however things worked out differently.

I priced similar (although slightly smaller) machines locally and they were around 4-5 times the cost of a Chinese built CNC. I would not have been able to afford any of the US or Australian machines but a Chinese machine came within the budget. As people are able to see from my postings, it has been a ball and I can make a lot of things in a lot less time than it would take me otherwise. I would do it again any day.

I think the Chinese quality could be better in some areas but for the improvement there will also be a cost increase. Whether or not they end up costing the same as a non Chinese machine for the same quality remains to be seen, possibly will still cost less. The buyer should be aware these machines are the cheapest machines out there and as such are not top quality, they are however the best bang for the buck.

PS, The agent for my machine was Taney, he is now with Jinan Quick CNC but I would still recommend him as the person to go to. He seems to be the most open and unlike some others, he will tell you if he doesn't know the answers to your questions (it will also get him running to the engineers looking for the answer).

Shannon.

[bananafish]

Hi, All

Rocket, This is very interesting thread. and I hope you get a lots of posts.
Personally I would like to know who bought which machine from whom. etc...

Just briefly describe myself. I'm in Sydney Australia.
My cultural background is Japanese.( You can tell by my bad English )
I run small cabinetmaking/woodworking business in Northern beaches area.
I placed the order for Excitech SHM1212 late August this year. my sales rep is Jerry.
I had good communication(most in Email) with Jerry till I made full payment.
After that, communication gets very slow.(less reply from Jerry)

I had the machine delivered on 19 Nov.
Believe or not, they sent me a wrong machine!! There was SHG1212 in the crate.
They have same size table but Excitech stated SHG is sign making machine and SHM is woodworking machine.There are some difference in the spec.
After a lots of emails to Jerry,(I received only few reply) he promised me to replace the machine. Now I have to wait again.
That's all I can tell you right now.
Obviously I've been having very very distressful time. Though I can't tell you whether It was good or not for me to buying machine from China.

I'll let you guys know how things went once every thing sorted out.

[rocket67]

Originally Posted by bananafish Hi, All Rocket, This is very interesting thread. and I hope you get a lots of posts. Personally I would like to know who bought which machine from whom. etc... Just briefly describe myself. I'm in Sydney Australia. My cultural background is Japanese.( You can tell by my bad English ) I run small cabinetmaking/woodworking business in Northern beaches area. I placed the order for Excitech SHM1212 late August this year. my sales rep is Jerry. I had good communication(most in Email) with Jerry till I made full payment. After that, communication gets very slow.(less reply from Jerry) I had the machine delivered on 19 Nov. Believe or not, they sent me a wrong machine!! There was SHG1212 in the crate. They have same size table but Excitech stated SHG is sign making machine and SHM is woodworking machine.There are some difference in the spec. After a lots of emails to Jerry,(I received only few reply) he promised me to replace the machine. Now I have to wait again. That's all I can tell you right now. Obviously I've been having very very distressful time. Though I can't tell you whether It was good or not for me to buying machine from China. I'll let you guys know how things went once every thing sorted out.

bananafish, What precisely is the difference between the SHG and SHM?

How about posting some photos?

Sorry to hear it has not gone smoothly, but is there REALLY a difference that is going to make things difficult for you?

LOL with getting Jerry to replace the machine, but i hope it works out ok for you.

Rocket.

[bananafish]

Hi,Rocket

Difference between SHG and SHM is quite significant.
Please refer their web site for the detail.
http://www.sh-router.com/shg1212.asp
They don't have SHM1212 on the web but.

My main concern is the height of the gantry. SHG is 120mm and SHM has 220mm gantry. Also SHG is ball screw drive, SHM is rack and pinion gear drive.

When I opened the crate, the machine was in very good condition and I saw some improvement they made to this machine. ( grease nipple to liner bearing.)
Unfortunately it was wrong model.

I don't know how this could have happened.
This is something you don't want to happening to your purchase.
But at least Jerry promised to get me the right machine.
I just want to receive what I have ordered and paid for.
I'll see how they handle this problem and let you guys know.

[mecanicu]

I'm from Romania and i have a sign's/advertising company. My cnc is a excitech SHM2030A model with a HSD 6kw spindle italy, for about 3 year's. It's working perfect. Now i'm upgrade to 4th axis and my contact from excitech it's Diana (sale's director) and li maxry (i think administrator). i don't have any problem contact them day and night . they resolved all my small problem's or answer to all my question...so contact them if you need somenthing.

In conclusion i'm very happy with my cnc and with excitech.