Black 3018 CNC router

The Blackbird mentioned seeing something like this on another Forum. I had already ordered one but didn't want to jump the gun!
I also ordered one of these to go with it.

My understanding is that the Laser Module is purely for engraving and has little cutting depth. Unlike the router which is designed for sheet cutting. Just in case........

Please let us know how the router works out klippy. I would be interested in one of those myself, especially at that price !

When I got my Anet 3d printer literally everything I might need was in the package, no such luck with this, just 2 allen keys!
The construction is all screwed and you have to download the instructions from the vendor. The rails are very nice, CNC cut to length and nicely anodized.
A bit more done, but, you have to keep taking it apart to put more nuts into the rails.

These corner angles are very nicely cast but they do need a bit of cleaning up.
I started the construction using only the supplied 'T' nuts, only to discover there aren't enough! And you have to use the M5 nuts supplied with the angles. In mitigation the angles come with the required screw and nut already mounted. I found out the hard way a standard M5 nut doesn't fit! But the supplied nuts sometimes don't 'catch' and lock.

The rails supports for the X and Y now in.

Klippy
Having to use an ordinary nut in place of a T nut is in engineering terms a rather poor substitute that will have only a fraction of the ultimate strength.
I appreciate your remoteness means you have to 'make do' but if it was me I would be on to the supplier for more T nuts!
Failing that buy some more!

You're absolutely right Simon and I have 'T' nuts on order.

Easier to see the rail supports for the Y axis in this shot.

X axis now mounted, it comes with the Z fully assembled but you must ensure that the carriage runs up and down freely before putting in the lead screw. You can also see the 'plumber' block that supports the free end of the lead screw.
More about the lead screws, they are double start Acme threads but the ends had not been cleaned up so wouldn't screw into the nuts.

Crash, you have to be careful about carriage from China, I could have bought 50quid cheaper but the post and packing was eye watering!
Now the table is on and you can see the Z drive on top and the Y motor at the bottom left. They are 'stepper' motors which means it's an open loop system. The motors are positioned by sending them a finite number of pulses, however if you 'bump' the work piece or even try to overdo the feed rate you will lose the absolute position. In the old days we had a motor at one end of the lead screw and a resolver (position indicator) at the other so you didn't have that potential problem.
You do get quite a nice user friendly program to use with demo programs. However the program uses 2,000mm/min as rapid and it doesn't listen to a parameter changes, at least I haven't been able to change it. When driving the axis' in 'Jog' mode you have 0.01mm, 0.1mm, 1.0mm, 5.0mm, 10.0mm and 100.0mm. The 100mm jog is unusable since the axis accelerates until it can no longer keep up! So then stops and screams!

Klippy
On the Anet control programme if you delve deep enough you can set the rate of acceleration as well as the final speed of the steppers, not that I ever have, but the full list of variables is astounding even if you have to go through a tutorial to understand what they actually do!
I would imagine the same sort of thing is, or might become, available if the router proves to be a popular machine.

Simon I never had to alter any settings on the Anet so left it alone under the age old premise 'if it ain't broke don't fix it!'
Here the first trial is happening, aside from the rapid problem the whole thing is very user friendly. I was worried when I realised that the machine is directly controlled from the computer USB, there is no provision for an SD card. My Anet is very unreliable (keeps stopping) if I try direct control. However no such problem with this board. I just wish the Chinese would ship as 'fit for purpose' instead of having this Merry go Round, I'm sure if people new it would work from the getgo they would sell a lot more.
I was pleasantly surprised to find the motor speed is fully variable, I was expecting 'On/Off'
Having proved the thing works using the supplied software and test programs I decided to try the Laser, Hah, only took me 3 days to figure it out, at one stage I had the Laser boxed ready to send back!


I took more than 30 pics trying to register the Laser point, somehow my camera just won't do it!

That frame actually looks quite robust.

Did you mark the bed X & Y?

If the steppers on my Anet are anything to go by they are amazingly powerful. I have not done it (yet) but I believe they can strip the teeth off the toothed belts!

I suppose the only thing you will have to be careful with in your 'desert' type climate is keeping the lead screws spotless to avoid them wearing from repeated use in the same area.

Quorneng wrote: That frame actually looks quite robust.

Did you mark the bed X & Y?

If the steppers on my Anet are anything to go by they are amazingly powerful. I have not done it (yet) but I believe they can strip the teeth off the toothed belts!

I suppose the only thing you will have to be careful with in your 'desert' type climate is keeping the lead screws spotless to avoid them wearing from repeated use in the same area.

The X and Y is supposed to be Y+ but even then I got it wrong, X0, Y0 is the top left corner of the bed which I find easier to remember. All our CNC mills were Cincinatti, Z (Spindle) was column in and out, X was spindle carriage up and down with zero at the lower end and Y was across the spindle carriage with zero on the right.
I find it interesting that the motors are not powered when at rest, you can turn them with your fingers!
As for axis care I like oil, preferably lots of it so I have a box that I will put over it when not in use.
The materials used are excellent, those aluminium sections are 20mm square and will never bend in any direction, the cast 90^o angles likewise, the weakest point anywhere is the 5mm screws used to secure the parts together, just how rigid it is we'll find out later.

Depends what you mean by 'at rest'.
On the Anet you can still move the steppers after switch on but once the printing has initialised and set the 'home' positions you certainly can't move them even if they are not actually 'stepping'.

Cor Klippy the name cincinatti brings back memories! first cnc mill I used was a cincinatti with moog hydrapoint control with paper tape memory!!

My memory goes back to the big Pratt and Whitney Keller copy millers. No computers needed just a wooden pattern made in the carpenters shop and a skilled operator. Impressive to watch!