Newbie- Buying a machine from China?

[blue^ray]

Hi, I was just looking to purchase a cnc router ~ 12x12 feet. And I wanted to know what I should look for when buying a cnc router from china so I dont want to end up with major problems when it arrives?

Should I avoid chinese manufacturers?

If so what is the main issue with them that I should look out for.

I saw this one on ebay to which I am interested in

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI....tab%3DWatching


Cheapest one ive seen, and its a steel frame as well, where can you go wrong?

[jalessi]

There have been several Forum Members from Australia that have purchased a Chinese router that are very happy.

Since you are making a large purchase, read this thread first.

It is long however it might save you some grief.

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46637

Jeff...

[rocket67]

Hi Blue^Ray, We bought our sh-cnc Excitech cnc Router from China about a year and a half back.

We are extremely happy with our purchase and are soon to order another one from the same people in China. Just waiting for the Aussie Dollar to increase in value against the USD ( currently approx 0.75 cents ).

The Chinese machines are great value for money for those of us in the southern hemisphere.

However, for those that live in the USA - you have easy access to plenty of locally made machines. A 12ft x 12ft machine is very big! The Ebay machine in your link is a 4ft x 4ft machine.
Ours is a 5ft x 10ft machine - and a bloody ripper!
In the USA some machines to consider would be camaster, shop-sabre EasyRouter and shopbot. Probably there are others that i am not aware of.

In the current economic climate - are you going to be more of a patriot by purchasing a CNC Router made in your own country - even if you pay a bit more for it?

In our country - the price difference is staggering between an Aussie made machine and a Chinese made one. There is no contest.

Check out the camaster thread.

Rocket.

[blue^ray]

Hi, rocket how much was the router from excitech?


BTW rocket look at the location :P. "Australia " The US has so much competition that the prices are very fair.


There is also a 2nd hand MultiCam cnc router for $18,000 on ebay Aus, hasnt sold yet as they have had it up before. I dont have this sort of money thou, I do however have more than enough to purchase that cnc router.


I just dont want to get a chinese made cnc router and find out I go duped and its completely off or something, the specs are pretty good, ballscrews on all axis's being belt driven it looks like, perfect setup, all slides covered (round rails used but they are good enough)



{EDIT}

Went through your thread with the images, looks like a bloddy awesome machine.

[cabnet636]

rocket, i thought you would get a kick oputa what i have done on the camaster!!

1" thick mdf glued into 3" slabs then machined using slices on vcarve/aspire

king is 24" at base 72" tall

jim

[blue^ray]

Originally Posted by cabnet636 rocket, i thought you would get a kick oputa what i have done on the camaster!! 1" thick mdf glued into 3" slabs then machined using slices on vcarve/aspire king is 24" at base 72" tall jim

Showoff :P

[cabnet636]

blue, rocket started the thread on nov 7-07 i joined shortly there after and purchased my first machine on nov25-07, he got his i think in december so we have grown through this together!! you can trust what he tells you about these routers. let's get one cranked up!!

jim

[blue^ray]

Originally Posted by cabnet636 blue, rocket started the thread on nov 7-07 i joined shortly there after and purchased my first machine on nov25-07, he got his i think in december so we have grown through this together!! you can trust what he tells you about these routers. let's get one cranked up!! jim

I was reading that thread, oh the drama ended so quick, I was waiting to see those pictures of the thin walled, non working, rusty cnc router

I got to page 10 then looked at the bottom and 150+ pages :O

Its bloddy amazing what you guys can do. I on the otherhand have no creativity :P.

[cabnet636]

i had no creativity either!!

jim

[blue^ray]

Originally Posted by cabnet636 i had no creativity either!! jim

I actually want a cnc router so I can build a proper cnc plasma cutter so I can make mounts out of 6mm steel. I cannot do any manual metalwork hopeless at it. (Reason I only need a 1200x1200 cutting area) any smaller isnt worth it and any bigger is a bit too far of my budget.

Tried building a cnc router (I have all the expencive parts so I might be able to get a reduced price if I get them to remove them). Stalled when I needed custom brackets (alot of them) and the local routing mobs were wanting a arm and a leg, even though I was providing the aluminium.

But why stop there, why not a cnc mill and cnc lathe :P.

[cabnet636]

a 12 x12 (4'x4' here in the usa) is a good size router that will allow for most all applications if it can be streteched get a 4x8 (1200x2400 metric) as i found other uses and actually made money cutting signs that paid the router off faster.

jim

[blue^ray]

Originally Posted by cabnet636 a 12 x12 (4'x4' here in the usa) is a good size router that will allow for most all applications if it can be streteched get a 4x8 (1200x2400 metric) as i found other uses and actually made money cutting signs that paid the router off faster. jim

It was my mistake it is 4x4 feet, they normally have 1212 in the product number that is where I got it from (1200mm x 1200mm)

The machine I am building at my workshop is 2400x1300. so once I have this one it wont take much to get the current machine running. (The next size up is $3600USD more or $4600 USD more.) I have talked to him and he can drop the price of the 4x4' machine if I remove the spindle, and controllers and inverter as I have some Gecko 201's here and 50V PSU's and a 1500w WC Spindle with inverter already.

I am not looking to become a cabinet maker or anything it is more of a hobby a very expencive one at that. I do want a 1200x2400 machine as I want to build a Mame Arcade Cabinet that is what got me started onto the CNC routers as I cant cut wood for ****.


I am sure this company is ligit as they sell them on ebay and have been a ebay seller since 2002, but I have not been able to find anything about the business (ie. feedback from users)

Hold the phone

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=65146


Seems like its got good reviews from what I could find.