6040 cnc reviews

[dhonda200]

could someone give me some reviews on the 6040 cnc 4 axis machiens you see on ebay. How are they for miling aluminum? Is it possible to build a mini functioning engine with one or are they just totall junk

 

[RonGinger]

To start, they are ROUTERS, not milling machines. They are meant to cut sheet goods, like plywood and plastic. They MAY be rigid enough to cut some aluminum sheet, but that is probably pushing it. There is no way they will cut the depth of stock you would need for an engine.

Also remember, ebay is not a single merchant- anyone that wants to can sell a machine and call it 6040, or whatever. Unless you look at a product from the same vendor there is no way to compare.

There are some pretty nice routers on ebay.

 

[Wizard69]

could someone give me some reviews on the 6040 cnc 4 axis machiens you see on ebay. How are they for miling aluminum? Is it possible to build a mini functioning engine with one or are they just totall junk

I'm not sure if we can link other sites, but check out CNC zone. They have an active section devoted to routers both commercial and DIY. In a nut shell lots of variability with these machines and all of them have junk for electrics. They are often seen as a kit of aluminum extrusions.

As routers go most of the 6040's are at best light duty machines. As Ron pointed out above they are routers not milling machines and light routers at that. This doesn't even consider the spindle that is attached which may have a minimal speed way too high for some metal machining techniques. In the end it depends upon your expectations but for the most part NO these are not milling machine replacements. You might be able to accomplish some machining, light cuts only, if you also have a lathe to handle some work. However you may not like the results.

In a nut shell these machines vary widely in build quality and frankly in some cases are hardly suitable for wood from the factory.

If you are really looking for a router that can handle aluminum to some extent your best bet is a DIY build. That build would have to be substantial and made out of steel. Done right such a machine would handle some of your aluminum machining chores. I say some because of the assumption that you would be using a router type spindle. Such a machine isn't a trivial build either, you will need a mill of access to a machinist to build it. By the time you are done you will have spent several thousand dollars just building a very rigid frame with suitable linear components.

The problem here is that to get anywhere near to milling machine like performance out of a router you need a very stiff structure. To some extent you can dial back cutting aggressiveness to let the CNC nibble away at the work. This though has its own issues. In the end if you want milling machine like results you in effect end up building a bridge mill.

So in a nut shell:

1. If you want to machine aluminum you need a stiff machine. About ten times stiffer than what is suitable for wood
2. Right now the most economical approach is to build a steel framed machine.
3. Building a router format machine suitable and accurate enough for use as a milling machine replacement is non trivial. It is a lot of work in other words
4. Even if you build it the format can be less than ideal for projects that assume a milling machine.
5. Oh a steel framed machine requires access to a milling machine, likely via a machine shop. This mill might need to me fairly sizable to do the gantry properly.
6. There are alternatives to milling machines such as epoxy leveling, hand scraping and other techniques. A properly machined gantry though is gold.
7. The cost of the import machines can be misleading. The cheap ones often put you in upgrade hell
8. Though I can't recommend them, there are a few companies in the USA and Canada building or reselling router kits or built units, that may be worth a look. Most of these are aluminum extrusion based and thus very light duty for aluminum.
9. In case you are wondering I'm not a big fan of aluminum T-Slotted extrusions for critical machine parts.
10. Never the less some guys have purchased the Chinese 6040's for the aluminum extrusions as a base for a complete rebuild. In other words the machines are bought for the cheap aluminum with the intent to put quality electrics on the machines. In fact some vendors will sell the machines without the controls.
11. The rebuild path as described in10 above will produce a fairly decent light duty machine at a low cost.
12. Check out C N C Zone.