Best for the money CNC KIT

[gitarre10000]

Hello ,
I am starting my 1st build (3axis router table) and I am looking for something like this from
CNCRouterparts.com

CNCRouterParts

Although , I didnt want to spend more than 300 or so on motors / drives / and power supply.

Can anyone give me some recomendations.

[P.Passuello]

I can understand the urge to save money but the one thing to consider is you are building your first machine and as soon as you have built that one you will start on your next one then the next. This hobby is a disease and the only known cure is to build another machine. The one thing you will take from machine to machine is the drivers, motors and PSU. If you skimp on it now you will be having to upgrade it for your next build, The driver you have been looking at will serve you well up to a 4X4 machine and beyond. As someone who has bought more drivers than hot dinners the G540 is one of the best and all I now use. You are probably already looking at the best CNC Kit for the money.

This just my personal opinion and I wish someone had told me this when I started in this hobby especially as I had to import all my drivers and steppers from overseas. It would have saved me a fortune.

Having said this have a look at Xylotex
They have a 3 axis kit for $310 and if I read it right you can choose either 270 or 425 motors, but I'm not sure. I have had one of these in the past and it worked for me, but as with most of these drivers, 24Volt under powers the steppers and they suffer from resonance unless you build mechanical compensation. I can also tell you that the same motors from the Xylotex run on a Gecko G540 is shows an incredible improvement in performance.

Cheers
Peter

[restless1]

I agree wholeheartedly as i went the small cnc route and it was a love hate relationship..
love in the fact that i made all my mistakes on it which if it had been a big machine would of been disastrous...hate in the fact that i wish i had gone big first and skipped the small machine as it looks like a toy to me now.. and you guessed it my biggest mistake was cheaping out on the motors and drivers so i did indeed have to pay again when i went bigger...so that's my lesson learned..
my advice would be to spend the money on the electronics and if you must skimp then on the raw materials ... then learn then go bigger trust me that's
a big saver...
I wish you well on your build!

[jalessi]

Gitarre10000,

For the money you cant beat the Keling KL-6050 stepper drive.

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Kelings 48 volt power supply is a great deal.

KL-350-48 48V/7.3A

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CNC4PC C10 breakout board works well.

Services

KL23H2100-35-4B Stepper motor is a very good performer.

http://www.kelinginc.net/KL23H2100-35-4B.pdf

Hoss uses Keling products on all his retrofit machines.

YouTube - G0704 Max Realistic Rapid Speed
Total cost for three axis only $379.00

Jeff...

[atwooddon]

I will also agree on the small/cheap approach might be a waste of time and money. I went that route and almost immediately decided I needed a 'bigger' machine. My original CNC router had a 6x9 cutting area and it seemed everything I needed to cut was bigger than that! ;-)

The one area I was lucky in was the stepper motor controller. I bought and have used the HobbyCNC motor controllers for over 2 years now with no issues. They are kits but if you have any soldering experience at all they are a breeze to assemble and test. Complete 3 axis packages with motors, motor controllers are available at less than $300 and the support group on Yahoo is great. Quick answers and great support from HobbyCNC when needed.

HobbyCNC | CNC for the desktop machinist and hobbyist.

Don

[gitarre10000]

Thanks everyone. Seems the kit from CNCRouterKit.com is the best solution.
Although I read this article last night:

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/diy-cn...40_info_-.html

There seems to be a problem with the placement of the resistors on the G540.

Please let me know what you think after reading this.
Thanks again.

[ger21]

If you make you're own cables using the Gecko supplied connectors, there is no problem.

[bobsch]

Originally Posted by gitarre10000 Thanks everyone. Seems the kit from CNCRouterKit.com is the best solution. Although I read this article last night: http://www.cnczone.com/forums/diy-cn...40_info_-.html There seems to be a problem with the placement of the resistors on the G540. Please let me know what you think after reading this. Thanks again.

It's not a problem if you follow Gecko's instructions. The resistors go at the G540 end, not the motor end.

[gitarre10000]

So people have been putting the wrong end of the cables on the G540 ?
Is that what you mean?

So is there nothing wrong with this kit? The motors wont overheat?

CNCRouterParts

Do the cables have the resistors in one end already?

[restless1]

the full kit from cncrouter parts i believe has the resisters already set up and wired in for there whole kit and motor selection ...
been a while email them before you buy..

[tkubic]

Haven't read the whole thread but my suggestion would be.

• Hobbycnc
• xylotex
• gecko
• cncrouterparts

Depends on the size of machine you want. If you want a larger machine moving faster, I would suggest a bipolar driver. I don't remember what all of those listed are, but i believe gecko is bipolar. Unipolar = less torque, bipolar = more torque, but more money

[bob808]

Hi guys. Very good info here as I'm preparing to embark on the epic quest of building my first CNC. I see that there's a good amount of info regarding the electronics for CNC, but I can't decide what route to go for the table/mechanics. I'm interested in a kit, or maybe a kit where I get the metal parts for mechanics and I CNC locally the wood pieces. Do you happen to know any European retailer for this job? Interested in a minimum working area of 24"x24". Looking for mostly wood/plastics work, and maybe a minimum of aluminum work. Could invest 1500-2000$. I checked out solsylva.com but I won't buy any plans for a CNC machine. The availability of DIY kind of materials in my country is low and very expensive. Would take very much of my precious time as well, so I want to get a kit for the table, have it up and running with mechanics and all and then decide on the electronics. Any advice is very much welcomed. Thank you