Genmitsu

Hi All

looking for comments on the following equipment

collections/cnc/products/sainsmart-genmitsu-cnc-router-3018-mx3 >**LINK**

My son is looking to get into CNC for his model making

comments please

regards Trevor

Is this any good for machining acrylics and poss Aluminium or soft metals?

thanks

I would say not

its as cheap as a cnc can get and still work

theres no software with it...mach 3 is £120 ish or the free mentioned

the motor will drive you mad with the lack of power and noise

soft wood ,foam but no metals at all not too sure about acyrilics

and it has a very small work envelope

Thanks Ian, Glad we checked before he spent his money,

Thank you for the comment

Pleased I asked the question

regards

trevor

This is a link to the air cooled low end version of what I have - **LINK**

they are very well made from 10mm ali plate for the uprights.

Ok So I have spoken to my son and the "working Envelope" isn't an issue

based on the above what would be a reasonable entry level type of machine to go for?

The programming side of things isn't an issue as he is a professional Computer programmer by trade

Thanks

Trevor

Thanks Fizzy

you obviously type faster than me...

cheers for the link

this is the one I have - cant see how they do it for the money, very impressed with it and i use it solely for brass **LINK**

and here is a video of me using it to drill holes in one of my burners - I had 100 to make so needed a hands off solution. Only snapped 2 drills so far and that was through sheer stupidity - not short of that! Pendle Steam Boilers CNC drilling

Hi Trevor, Often with machines of this type, and 3D printers, there is a large Youtube community posting about the specific machines. If you search on youtube with the make and model you will likely find LOTS of good info about capabilities / good points / bad points before you buy.

One thing I have noticed about cnc routers at the low end of the cost scale is that the motors look like ordinary Johnson-style DC plain bearing units with an adapter collet chuck tacked on. The bearings in ordinary DC motors (intended for fans or small appliances) are not designed to take heavy side or end loads as they would see in cnc router cutting or milling. I don't think the bearings in these motors would last long, especially with plunge cuts / end loads since the thrust brgs are minimal if present at all in a lot of common DC motors.

If you can find a router with a belt drive to a separate spindle (preferably ball or roller bearing) then the motor will likely last far longer and the cuts will be cleaner too. With a separate spindle you might be able to rebuild / tune / improve it or get an upgraded one if problems occur and the youtube community responds. For 3D printers for example, there are many "hot rodding" performance improvement kits for various modules of the machines, shown and reviewed on youtube.

perfect

this is exactly what I needed - I will pass the above onto my son for further investigation

cheers

[This posting has been removed]

Barrie

thank you, my son is now reviewing the alternative machines but has stated he is tending towards having a go at constructing his own.....

Could/should be interesting

thank you to all that have commented

regards

Trevor

Fizzy what size holes are you drilling?

I think he is wanting to engrave and work with acrylics but not sure

He lives over on the IOW so I dont get to see him often

hence not sure what he is trying to achieve

Thanks

Hi Baz - they are 1.5mm with a bit too fast feed rate. Slow the feed right down and 6mm is good.