UK sources of cnc components

[Kipper]

After searching and not seeing one I thought we needed a thread for places to source components to build CNC machines from.

Linear rail and various other "CNC interesting parts" suppliers I've found (at "reasonable" cost) rino and ondrive I'll add more later.

[P Riedie]

You call those two "Reasonable cost"?
£9.00 for the cheapest bearing and £1400 yes $2700 for a short linear carriage and ball screw.

PR.

[martinw]

Dear Kipper,

Thanks for starting the thread. Excellent idea.

Here are some more..

motors and drives www.motioncontrolproducts.com
linear motion and leadscrew machining www.marchantdice.com
linear motion, couplings,power transmission www.huco.com

(The first two have shops on UK ebay)

For small components, US ebay is well worth a look because the shipping costs can be quite modest.

VXB on US ebay has a shop that does a shedload of all different types of bearings, including angular contacts.


Best wishes,

Martin

[daedalus]

With the dollar so low against the pound its really worth ordering what you can from the states. Servos, encoders, drives etc are all very expensive to source new, and can be found for next to nothing on ebay.

If your after something to convert, axminster stock quite a lot of the sieg machines:
www.axminster.co.uk

[martinw]

Originally Posted by daedalus With the dollar so low against the pound its really worth ordering what you can from the states. Servos, encoders, drives etc are all very expensive to source new, and can be found for next to nothing on ebay. If your after something to convert, axminster stock quite a lot of the sieg machines: www.axminster.co.uk

Dear Daedalus,

You are absolutely right, but the shipping costs from the US for large or heavy items can stiff you. In many cases, sellers simply will not entertain the idea of shipping outside North America.

For items that can fit in a small package, the deal is a lot better. Oh,yes...the really best bit is that they usually slip into the country without attracting duty or VAT. It's almost worth paying a bit more for that satisfaction....

On the subject of rip-off Britain.... I wanted to buy some loudspeaker drive units made by a Danish manufacturer. They have distributors in the UK. After investigating prices in the US, it turns out that if you buy from their US distributors and pay all the shipping, import duties and VAT, the total cost is less than that of buying from the UK distributors. Those drive units will have made two transatlantic journeys, compared to a hop across the Nort Sea..

Madness.

Best wishes,

Martin

[Al_The_Man]

Did you guys check out Misumi UK, I believe they are in Milton-Keynes.
They have good service here in Canada. I am not sure how the pricing compares.

[Oldmanandhistoy]

Electronics http://www.rapidonline.com/home.aspx

Definitely worth looking to European countries and doing European Union searches on Ebay.
http://cnc-plus.de/index.php

Most important thing in my opinion is shop around; at least one link on this thread is well over priced. I have found same items at less than half their prices but will not mention names.

Don’t get me started on rip off Britain; I am seriously considering emigrating!

John

[Kipper]

Originally Posted by P Riedie You call those two "Reasonable cost"? £9.00 for the cheapest bearing and £1400 yes $2700 for a short linear carriage and ball screw. PR.

You can make it your mission to find those items cheaper! Some of the items they stock are 3 times longer and are less £'s than the second hand ones sell for on ebay... Always look closely at things ie Browse the RS catalogue and then find a cheaper supplier to buy the same thing from. www.automotion.co.uk Allsorts there. Fenner For all manner of belts.

[martinw]

Originally Posted by Oldmanandhistoy I have found same items at less than half their prices but will not mention names. Don’t get me started on rip off Britain; I am seriously considering emigrating! John

Dear John,

Go on man, do tell!

By the way, Denmark and the UK are both in the EU for Heaven's sake.

Best wishes,

Martin

[Oldmanandhistoy]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aufnahme-fuer-...QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Kress-43mm-Mot...QQcmdZViewItem

John

[martinw]

Originally Posted by Oldmanandhistoy http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Aufnahme-fuer-...QQcmdZViewItem http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Kress-43mm-Mot...QQcmdZViewItem John

Dear John,

Thank-you very much for that.

Best wishes

Martin

[daedalus]

I have ordered heavy items such as linear rails and servos from abroad on ebay and even with postage it can be a huge saving.

Also there are companies in the US that offer remailing services. I didnt have to use one in the end, but several that advertise on the internet offer to remail your goods whilst marking their customs value as 40% of the cost (wholesale price). On expensive goods they pay for themselves in customs charges (although i have no idea about the legality of their service.