Buying a machine from China?

[blue^ray]

Hi, I was just looking to purchase a cnc router ~ 12x12 feet. And I wanted to know what I should look for when buying a cnc router from china so I dont want to end up with major problems when it arrives?

Should I avoid chinese manufacturers?

If so what is the main issue with them that I should look out for.

I saw this one on ebay to which I am interested in

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI....tab%3DWatching


Cheapest one ive seen, and its a steel frame as well, where can you go wrong?

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[jalessi]

There have been several Forum Members from Australia that have purchased a Chinese router that are very happy.

Since you are making a large purchase, read this thread first.

It is long however it might save you some grief.

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46637

Jeff...

[rocket67]

Hi Blue^Ray, We bought our sh-cnc Excitech cnc Router from China about a year and a half back.

We are extremely happy with our purchase and are soon to order another one from the same people in China. Just waiting for the Aussie Dollar to increase in value against the USD ( currently approx 0.75 cents ).

The Chinese machines are great value for money for those of us in the southern hemisphere.

However, for those that live in the USA - you have easy access to plenty of locally made machines. A 12ft x 12ft machine is very big! The Ebay machine in your link is a 4ft x 4ft machine.
Ours is a 5ft x 10ft machine - and a bloody ripper!
In the USA some machines to consider would be camaster, shop-sabre EasyRouter and shopbot. Probably there are others that i am not aware of.

In the current economic climate - are you going to be more of a patriot by purchasing a CNC Router made in your own country - even if you pay a bit more for it?

In our country - the price difference is staggering between an Aussie made machine and a Chinese made one. There is no contest.

Check out the camaster thread.

Rocket.

[blue^ray]

Hi, rocket how much was the router from excitech?


BTW rocket look at the location :P. "Australia " The US has so much competition that the prices are very fair.


There is also a 2nd hand MultiCam cnc router for $18,000 on ebay Aus, hasnt sold yet as they have had it up before. I dont have this sort of money thou, I do however have more than enough to purchase that cnc router.


I just dont want to get a chinese made cnc router and find out I go duped and its completely off or something, the specs are pretty good, ballscrews on all axis's being belt driven it looks like, perfect setup, all slides covered (round rails used but they are good enough)



{EDIT}

Went through your thread with the images, looks like a bloddy awesome machine.

[cabnet636]

rocket, i thought you would get a kick oputa what i have done on the camaster!!

1" thick mdf glued into 3" slabs then machined using slices on vcarve/aspire

king is 24" at base 72" tall

jim

[blue^ray]

rocket, i thought you would get a kick oputa what i have done on the camaster!!

1" thick mdf glued into 3" slabs then machined using slices on vcarve/aspire

king is 24" at base 72" tall

jim

Showoff :P

[cabnet636]

blue, rocket started the thread on nov 7-07 i joined shortly there after and purchased my first machine on nov25-07, he got his i think in december so we have grown through this together!! you can trust what he tells you about these routers. let's get one cranked up!!

jim

[blue^ray]

blue, rocket started the thread on nov 7-07 i joined shortly there after and purchased my first machine on nov25-07, he got his i think in december so we have grown through this together!! you can trust what he tells you about these routers. let's get one cranked up!!

jim

I was reading that thread, oh the drama ended so quick, I was waiting to see those pictures of the thin walled, non working, rusty cnc router

I got to page 10 then looked at the bottom and 150+ pages :O

Its bloddy amazing what you guys can do. I on the otherhand have no creativity :P.

[cabnet636]

i had no creativity either!!

jim

[blue^ray]

i had no creativity either!!

jim

I actually want a cnc router so I can build a proper cnc plasma cutter so I can make mounts out of 6mm steel. I cannot do any manual metalwork hopeless at it. (Reason I only need a 1200x1200 cutting area) any smaller isnt worth it and any bigger is a bit too far of my budget.

Tried building a cnc router (I have all the expencive parts so I might be able to get a reduced price if I get them to remove them). Stalled when I needed custom brackets (alot of them) and the local routing mobs were wanting a arm and a leg, even though I was providing the aluminium.

But why stop there, why not a cnc mill and cnc lathe :P.

[cabnet636]

a 12 x12 (4'x4' here in the usa) is a good size router that will allow for most all applications if it can be streteched get a 4x8 (1200x2400 metric) as i found other uses and actually made money cutting signs that paid the router off faster.

jim

[blue^ray]

a 12 x12 (4'x4' here in the usa) is a good size router that will allow for most all applications if it can be streteched get a 4x8 (1200x2400 metric) as i found other uses and actually made money cutting signs that paid the router off faster.

jim

It was my mistake it is 4x4 feet, they normally have 1212 in the product number that is where I got it from (1200mm x 1200mm)

The machine I am building at my workshop is 2400x1300. so once I have this one it wont take much to get the current machine running. (The next size up is $3600USD more or $4600 USD more.) I have talked to him and he can drop the price of the 4x4' machine if I remove the spindle, and controllers and inverter as I have some Gecko 201's here and 50V PSU's and a 1500w WC Spindle with inverter already.

I am not looking to become a cabinet maker or anything it is more of a hobby a very expencive one at that. I do want a 1200x2400 machine as I want to build a Mame Arcade Cabinet that is what got me started onto the CNC routers as I cant cut wood for ****.


I am sure this company is ligit as they sell them on ebay and have been a ebay seller since 2002, but I have not been able to find anything about the business (ie. feedback from users)

Hold the phone

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=65146


Seems like its got good reviews from what I could find.

[rocket67]

Hi, rocket how much was the router from excitech?


BTW rocket look at the location :P. "Australia " The US has so much competition that the prices are very fair.


There is also a 2nd hand MultiCam cnc router for $18,000 on ebay Aus, hasnt sold yet as they have had it up before. I dont have this sort of money thou, I do however have more than enough to purchase that cnc router.


I just dont want to get a chinese made cnc router and find out I go duped and its completely off or something, the specs are pretty good, ballscrews on all axis's being belt driven it looks like, perfect setup, all slides covered (round rails used but they are good enough)



{EDIT}

Went through your thread with the images, looks like a bloddy awesome machine.

Our Excitech is a ripper money making machine for us.

blue^ray, Our Excitech cost just over 20k delivered. But remember - that was in October2007.

I do have an old price list that will give you a rough guide - eg

1200mm x 1200mm with 1.5kw spindle is around 5k USD

1200mm x 2400mm with 1.5kw spindle is around 6k USD

1300mm x 2500mm with 2.0kwHSD spindle is around 9k USD

1500mm x 3000mm with 3.0kwHSD spindle is around 10k. USD

On top of these prices - shipping as LCL will cost a few hundred extra, and then there are port charges etc.

Which State/city are you located? There are Excitechs in most capital cities now - so maybe you could arrange to check one out.

Carvinmarvin tried to denigrate these machines early in the other thread, but he was quickly found out to be a trouble maker and departed the scene.

Our machine is very reliable, and well built. There can be a few minor issues with them upon setup - but nothing major. Forum member "jubee" posted an unflattering comment about his machine in the Excitech thread -from memory it related to his table not being flat ( easily fixed by machining spoilboard ). I remember reading it and thinking that it was not very kind because where would he get a better machine for this kind of money? It is all about value for money IMO. CORRECTION - jubee commented that his machine was not put together very well.? Ours was put together very well!


PS. The Chinese are not happy about posting prices on the forum, but please see them as only a very general guide - the prices are a year and a half old and have probably been changed by now. Also note the prices are in USD. Had a look at the Ebay ad and noticed that they are quoting GBP - pommy money!
A sign of the times? Are the Chinese losing faith in the USD?

Rocket.

[blue^ray]

PS. The Chinese are not happy about posting prices on the forum, but please see them as only a very general guide - the prices are a year and a half old and have probably been changed by now. Also note the prices are in USD. Had a look at the Ebay ad and noticed that they are quoting GBP - pommy money!
A sign of the times? Are the Chinese losing faith in the USD?

Rocket.

From feedback it looks like they get a bit of business from the UK so maby they are aimed at them. Not only that but they sell large format printers :O Another item I must buy.

I will look into excitech as the prices are the same pretty much I would guess. I do not mind a 1.5KW spindle as I can easily upgrade later on (I might even look at the 1200x2400 machine. I remember talking to them at one time so I cant remember what came of it.


I am located at Campbelltown, NSW, I actually looked up your location rocket, was hoping it was NSW I would love to see one of these machines in person as I have never ever seen a commercial unit in operation, I would not be a winger as I know you can fix most if any issues that arise as long as the main frame is all right and square, electronics wont bother me as I would rather use my own, im sure excitech would give some credit if I were to ask them to remove it.

PS: did I mention the machine you recieved looks awesome for the price. Wish I had 20K lying around.


I have shipping at 250USD (excitech should be around the same), and from my previous order of 4000 AUD when I bought some gear via ocean freight the charges were 1200 AUD using a Customs Broker and they deliver to my factory. (So I would gather ~ $1500 for clearance from customs ect)