Our team wants to buy a Zenbot CNC and we are wondering if it is a good one to purchase. Our budget is $1,500 and we only want this to cut Polycarbonate, 3/16" ABS Sheets, and maybe even some really thin aluminum. Is this a good machine to purchase, are there any addons that we should purchase other than the stock $1299 one from their website?
Any help would be greatly appreciated! We would like a machine that is pretty low maintenance and easy to use. We have experience with CAD, but not CAM software as much.
Thanks!
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We have had a 24" x 48" ZenbotCNC router since fall 2014. It has been an okay machine but we had to put time and money into it for it to be functional for FRC purposes. It isn’t a very rigid machine, so cutting aluminum is pretty slow. We are going to be replacing ours with a ShopSabre 23 this coming season. In addition the $1299 for the 24"x24" is very incomplete, that does not include the required CNC controller ($499), the mach 3 software ($175) or a router/spindle.
Personally I wouldn’t purchase from zenbotCNC and would find/raise the funding for an omio X8 (X6 if you are okay with a smaller size). https://www.omiocnc.com/products.html
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If you’re on a budget, the Shapeoko 3 is within your budget depending on the options, and is fairly good for plastic and wood. It can also cut aluminum at very conservative speeds for things like gussets.
If you can wait, save up and buy an Omio X8 instead like Allen recommended. It’s a much more powerful machine that will leave cheaper CNCs in the dust. Think about 10-30x faster cutting speeds and accurate performance in aluminum.
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My team purchased a Shapeoko 3 XLL cnc router in early January of this year, and it worked great for us (cutting aluminum, polycarbonate, and wood). The Shapeokos are a bit over $1,500, with a $1,830 price for a 32x16x3 machine, and a $2,050 price for the 33x32x3 machine, however this price does include a spindle. The default control software for the Shapeokos is carbide motion, which is free to download online (https://carbide3d.com/carbidemotion/).
It is worth noting that an Omio cnc will be significantly faster at cutting aluminum than the shapeoko. The shapeoko was, however, fast enough for my team.
Lastly, if you are based outside of the U.S. the Omio cnc’s price may be significantly cheaper than it is within the U.S. due to U.S. tariffs. The shapeoko on the other hand may get more expensive outside of the U.S.
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We bought our 1st CNC Router from X-Carve (XL) in 2018, we were able to cut up to 1/4" AL (very slowly though). We did ended up getting an aftermarket Z-Axis upgrade and our AL cutting has greatly improved. It was about $1k when we purchase it and X-Carve is a FIRST sponsor and you will find their $100 voucher in the KoP.
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