Reveiw of Ebay CNC router

[cnctoolman]

Well, not having really enough time to design and build one, because of workload I currently have in my homeshop, I decided to purchase one.

This is one of the machines I went with.

http://cgi.ebay.com/17-x-15-3D-cnc-r...item255a655ae9

Looked like a decent starter machine to play with. Fit my budget at this time.

Well after paying for it, took about 2 weeks to get to me.

Arrived OK, but did have a split in one corner of the box. So of course I was concerned with anything that might have happened, so immediatly got it open up. Was actually pretty decently packed. Everything bubble wrapped, and heavy styrofoam everywhere.



First notable damage was a sheetmetal bracket bent up. No biggie there I can straighten it out. Found a couple of dings on some of the aluminum supports. Once again I chalked it up to shipping. Unpacked the power supply for the spindle motor and it was dented in on top, and the plastic broken. I immediately opened up the spindle motor( cheap grinder type wasnt expecting much to begin with, going to replace anyhow). Plug everything in and it worked. Was acutally surprised by how smooth the grinder was. One of the plastic links actually took a hit, but again, chalked it up to shipping.












Skip foward and got the base squared up and made sure everything was tight. Had some problems getting the connecting bar screwed to the gantry(that connects the ballscrew to the gantry). Not real good line-up. Put the gantry on, and hooked up all electronics to the computer. Did a quick setup in Mach3, and put power to it. Not bad needs some tweaking on everything.






Well after doing some mechanical tweaking, I noticed the z-axis moving very oddly. As it would transverse up and down it would wobble. So I tried to retighten and tweak. Nothing worked. So I decided to tear into it to figure out the problem. What I found was not real assuring to say the least. The bottom bearing surface that had been machined on the ballscrew runs out .01" from the screw itself. Also it measures .423" in dia. while the bearing that it runs in measures on the ID .470". To say the least I am not happy with this. So I tore into the other 2 and found the same thing. The threads on the ends of the screws also might have about .020" worth of engagement. Talk about crappy work. Give me a chisel and i could do alot better. Will get some pics of this to put up later.

Also found out, as I tried to mount the spindle mount to the z-axis, the spindle mount is not machined flat, and the z-axis plate is not machined flat. Could not even mount it. Would need to be re-machined to work.





So that got me thinking what else? Well the ad states that is would be made from .48 thick aluminum. Well after looking at the gantry sides, something did not appear correct. After getting my calipers guess what, they are not. How about we say .385-.390"



So, I have now sent 2 e-mails to the seller, stating and explaining in detail with pictures what I have found. Am now just waiting on a response on what is going to happen to resolve the problems. I have sent 2 options to them, with them supplying replacement parts, and me doing some of the needed repairs(including me machining the new ballsrews so I know they will be correct) and partial refund on purchase price. And the other where they will just get it back with me leaning towards that. But we shall see what will happen.

They have sent a couple of e-mails back, one saying the damage could have been due to the DHL road crash. Wow did not mention this to me at all. Another one stated that I could tighten up the set screws in the collar on the bearing to make it work correctly. My thoughts is temporary fix, not a correct fix.

Just wanted to post this up, so anybody else considering this can see what I have encountered.

[Matt Clara]

Thanks for the post. I came very close to buying the 24x40 model from the same seller. In fact, I made a low-ball bid, and when the winning bidder backed out, I got a second chance offer. No thanks.

[cnctoolman]

No problem. I am still awaiting a response back from them. I just do not want anyone else to have to go through what i am.

May end up being my re-build thread on here.

[amishx64]

Wow. How much did you 'win' it for?

[cnctoolman]

Well that is another part of the story. I got it for $1200, but after all of this so far, I was looking at the bid history(getting all ducks in a row to contact E-bay to file a dispute) and I believe it was shill-bidded. Only 1 other person bid on it, and that is all they have ever bid on. So I will be contacting them.

[marzetti]

While it's true you have some legitimate issues with the machine you bought it still looks like a pretty good deal to me just considering the value of all the components. It would certainly be worth whatever you have to do to set things right. Just thought I'd put in my 2 cents worth in hopes that it makes you feel better about your purchase.

[amishx64]

Originally Posted by cnctoolman Well that is another part of the story. I got it for $1200, but after all of this so far, I was looking at the bid history(getting all ducks in a row to contact E-bay to file a dispute) and I believe it was shill-bidded. Only 1 other person bid on it, and that is all they have ever bid on. So I will be contacting them.

Hmmm. Very interesting. You should have let them win.

Good luck on your claims with eBay.

-----
I wonder how many others whom have bought from this seller have had the same experience :/

[cnctoolman]

Well just got off the phone with e-bay. They said no shill bidding was done( yea, ok). So that part is history.

Maybe I am just being to "picky". Told myself this is too good of a deal to pass up. Guess my background in Tool & Diemaking/Moldmaking is coming in to play.

I will look at it this way, if I keep it, I will correct everything, and have it up to par atleast.

[RomanLini]

Thanks for the review and taking the time to post the photos, that's really good info!

It was most likely shilled with a proxy IP, that's typical for a lot of ebay vendors.

That was a bit rough advertising it as 1/2" alloy construction but supplying 3/8" alloy instead. That's a massive difference in build cost (and value of the finished item).

The trouble with trying to get China refunds is that if you had paid $1200 from a US company, it would be a tiny fraction of their month's income and they would happily refund part or even whole amount for the sake of their reputation.

But in China $1200 is like 10 years wages, and no chinaman is going to hand back 10 years wages for the sake of a couple of nasty emails. It's easier to ignore, or in worst case they start a new business name webpage and ebay account, that's only a weeks work not 10 years wages...

I buy direct from China for personal and business quite a bit and the sad facts are;
1. China's not as cheap as it used to be (should be)
2. You still get something worse than the agreed item
3. You get great customer service BEFORE you buy
4. You got about zero chance of getting any refund or compensation...

China is still giving the same crap service as it was 10 years ago but the prices have risen really badly, prices as much as tripled and for a lot of stuff are only 5% to 10% cheaper than the local prices. They really need to make some changes there, it's one thing to sell garbage and lousy customer service when you are 3 times cheaper than the local price, but not when you are 5% cheaper than local...

Anyway I don't want to put a downer on your new machine. It just needs a little fixing up and should be a really nice machine! And really that applies to just about any machine you buy.

[amishx64]

Originally Posted by cnctoolman Well just got off the phone with e-bay. They said no shill bidding was done( yea, ok). So that part is history. Maybe I am just being to "picky". Told myself this is too good of a deal to pass up. Guess my background in Tool & Diemaking/Moldmaking is coming in to play. I will look at it this way, if I keep it, I will correct everything, and have it up to par atleast.

The eBay spokesperson seems as dumb as they get if they can't recognize fraud when presented right to their face. They even have access to everyone's user history / actions. Geez...

Yeah, you may considered picky if it were a used item, but it's brand new.

Too bad it looks like you need a CNC machine to fix your CNC machine.
I guess that if you put a lot of time into it, it could work like you intended, but that kind of ruins the point of buying one vs. DIY.

Oh well, that's life. If you start a re-build thread, be sure to mention it here.

[Marttin]

I can't belive first time I come here to beg for help and I find another router just like the one I just bought, only I got the 40 x 24 with the 4th axisand from the same seller.

I can't get in touch with SOB. And I having some trouble here.

Anyways, mine wasn't damaged that bad, just a dent on the power converter and the water pump was crap (got the 1.5kw water cooled).

I got it all put together, but I'm having problems with the program, and I can't find a driver. The machine is not responding to any commands.

Maybe I should browse around b4 I bombard you all with questions.


A little about me....

I know nothing about cnc, bought this router to train myself. I will start some on-line course shortly though. I will post some pics soon, but I'd be thrilled if I could make the thing move 4 mm...any axis.

Also, I bought a used laptop to use with this machine and downloaded the software, but it locks up my pointer when I open mach3. It works just fine on my vista laptop, but I have to use a usb converter for the printer port and I can't set it up.

Any threads on this you guys can recommend?

Great forum, btw!!

[amishx64]

Originally Posted by Marttin I can't belive first time I come here to beg for help and I find another router just like the one I just bought, only I got the 40 x 24 with the 4th axisand from the same seller. Also, I bought a used laptop to use with this machine and downloaded the software, but it locks up my pointer when I open mach3. It works just fine on my vista laptop, but I have to use a usb converter for the printer port and I can't set it up. Any threads on this you guys can recommend? Great forum, btw!!

I can't help much now (it's late) but you can't use a USB to parallel adapter. You need a parallel port straight off the computer. Also check to see that your pins are configured correctly in Mach3. I'll provide more info later, sorry.

- amishx64