Quote:
Originally Posted by mman1506
I'm putting together a " 3040 CNC" from parts. All in all it costs about the same as an XCarve and has proper linear bearings and ball screws. Aluminium milling capability is far better than a XCarve or an OX IMO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmIaObhW0Xg |
I would not recommend that specific type of linear guide (at least it appears to be a floating shaft press-fit on both ends like
this one, if it is the fully-supported type, disregard this comment) since a friend had a CNC router based on them. They are not supported across the travel and they vibrate during any movement. This would definitely cause surface finish issues and inaccuracy. His was a 2' x 4' router, however. On the smaller 3040, this may be a negligible deflection. I would recommend linear recirculating ball bearings (HiWin/THK style) on hardened steel guides for any extrusion based system as they will make the structure much more rigid.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gof
Ok, but what you're referring to are limitations for ALL the CNC's in the "budget" category, wouldn't you say? How would you compare the OX vs the X-carve for example? I think that's what we're interested in. Or, are you aware of a budget CNC that doesn't have these limitation and can take deeper passes for faster results?
I think perhaps the question on many of our minds is: What CNC (assembled/kit) for less than ($1000, $1500, $2000, etc) delivered is the "best", with cost including any highly recommended options. We all operate under a budget so it always needs to be total cost.
|
As I have no direct experience with both, I can only go off of what others have posted. Reviews are going to be good and bad for both. My personal opinion is to buy whichever one you can afford and get into CNC routing with. It will add so many capabilities to the team and will help inspire students and mentors to be creative with their designs. You can always build parts for a larger or better router from the smaller router.
Do you have any capability to make accurate parts yourself (milling machine)? A router is a fairly straightforward build and you can get a lot of machine for $1000 if you design the components yourself.
If I was to choose buying one I would probably consider the OpenBuilds over the X-Carve. The next step up I would consider the CNCRouterParts kit.