"Many CNC" (EasyCut)

[PW2008]

Hi,
I use two chinese machines at work, the 1005AS and the 2424AS from "Many CNC" (http://www.easycut.com/)

I can't judge them with authority because I'm fairly new to CNCs, but they do misbehave quite often and they seem to be very sensitive to the setup of the controlling computers (PCs running Vista).

For example:

The 2424AS recently tried to put a tool back in the tool holder while the spindle was still running. Now I'm waiting for the spindle to come back from repair in China. I call that very bad design. I intend to add a DIY circuit to stop it from happening again.

The 1005AS often stopped for no known reason about 1/4inch above the tool height switch after performing the first tool-height measurement. Recently it has been doing it a lot so I cleaned the switch and it worked for a bit. Now it seems that the cause was due to the desktop style on the PC - I had changed it from Vista to Classic

On the plus side, they are sturdy machines and when you've got a tested (g-code) file they seem to be reliable.

Does anyone else use these machines? It would be useful to compare notes.

Pete (England)

[yck011522]

I have used their machine for two years, and I definitely agree that they are very strong machines.

The controllers are a bit buggy and the software not very well written, little bugs and obfuscate settings.

But they have a very competitive price though.

[PW2008]

Thanks for replying!

With more practice and several communications with the makers I've identified several specific faults and written my own operating procedure. (The original manual makes as much sense now as it did when I first read it.) Both my machines have buggy software and the 2424AS has buggy hardware too.

The 1005AS has proved to be quite reliable provided it is operated in a specific way and high speed is not expected. Known problems:
Stopping over the tool-height switch - Fixed by procedure.
Errors in reported jog speeds. Hangs at highest speeds in Y jog.

The 2424AS usually works well, but sometimes fails for unknown reasons, so it is rarely left unattended. Known problems:
Tool change while spindle on - Believed to be electrical interference.

The 2424AS cost roughly the same as our suregrave desktop engraver that has more bugs.

I'm happy to pass on my operating procedure and other notes and would be very interested in any faults that you have fixed or remedied.

[yck011522]

I didnt manage to install the EasyCut Softwares on machines that is 64bit.
I tried Vista64, XP 64 and Win7-64

All Failed to install.

[PW2008]

Windows is frequently a pain and a mystery. I prefer XP with many of the bells-and-whistles removed or disabled.

My CNC machines currently use EasyCut V7 on Vista.
I will check if Vista is 32 or 64 bit.

Sometimes older programs can be loaded onto newer operating systems using compatibility mode, maybe with other tweaks and several attempts. But even if it appears to install correctly, some features may go missing or other problems may arise. This happens with TurboCAD pro V11.

The EasyCut software for my 2424 machine is "Run As Administrator". I don't know why!

Just noticed they now do V10 on the Easycut site and Avast Antivirus reports that it contains malware!