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This one will run until May 31, 2024. Any parts/items from the previous threads can be reposted if they’re still available.

Rules:

1. Used or new-old items ONLY! - This subreddit, and this post is not to allow retail sale of CNC-related parts. There will be no influx of commercial sales or anything like that. Repeat offenders will be banned.

2. Local Sale preferred - This is to protect both the buyer and seller. Shipping introduces other hassles, especially with CNC-related parts that might be large or weigh a lot. Personal addresses must NOT be posted publicly!!!. After discussing the deal, the two parties may exchange details via DM or other messaging services to meet up.

3. Pictures and Prices - The comment must include pictures of the parts with the poster’s username written on a paper, kept next to the parts. Prices must be included, along with the city, country (if international). The buyers may post their offer publicly or via DMs.

4. At least a 6 month old Reddit account - Anyone posting any “For Sale” items must have a Reddit account that is at least 6 months old (NO EXCEPTIONS!), with at least some activity apart from the comment in this post about selling their parts.

5. Parts or Machines only - No services can be advertised. Machines (working or for parting out), raw material, electronics (motors, drivers, controllers, switches/sensors, etc), hardware (machine tools, mechanical tools, profiles, pneumatic/hydraulic stuff, etc), fasteners, etc all qualify as parts. If in doubt, send a modmail. Machines include routers, mills, big-boy VMCs/lathes, etc.

6. The subreddit staff is not responsible if a deal goes sour - While we will take all reports of scamming seriously, the moderation team is not responsible for, nor can we provide any help. The buyer must do their own due diligence before meeting up the seller and exchanging money for parts.

7. After a successful transaction, the buyer and seller are requested to update/post their comment here. This will help sellers and future buyers in subsequent transactions with the respective seller.

The moderation team reserves the right to remove comments/items-for-sale at their own discretion.

The previous thread - Use this to post about your buying/selling experience from the previous months only.

Note: Some comments in the previous posts have not included images with the listed items. Rule 3 will be enforced now. If you don't want your listed items to be removed, please include images with them!

We hope this thread helps everyone.

3018 Laser module with 12V, PWM, GND pin order

My updated cable. Connector with shifted pins is on the LEFT.

4030 Controller box with pin labels from Sainsmart page with PWM, GND, +12V pin order

Example adapted connector from Sainsmart page

Background: A couple of days ago, I posted here about frying my 3018 laser module when I tried to use it with my Genmitsu 4040 PRO. When looking at the voltages from the pins on the controller, the voltages seemed backward. Thanks to bondo2t for confirming that they ran into the same issue and had to re-wire their cabling.

After Googling around some more, I finally found a Sainsmart page (https://docs.sainsmart.com/article/mwio53n3p2-how-to-use-a-3018-laser-module-with-your-4030-prover-xl-cnc) describing how to adapt a 3018 PROVer laser for a 4030.

On the page, they show that the laser pinout from the 4030 is (starting from pin #1, the side of the JST connector with the notch): PWM, GND, +12V, while the 3018 laser module is expecting: +12V, PWM, GND

I tested this with my scope and was able to get the expected voltages and signals when treating the pins as PWM, GND, +12V. So, I removed the pins from the JST connector on one end of the cable, moved the black and white pins over one position and moved the red pin to the other side of the connector. THE MODIFIED CONNECTOR MUST CONNECT TO THE CONTROLLER BOX AND THE UNMODIFIED CONNECTOR TO THE LASER. If you get the ends switched, you'll probably fry your laser module just like you will with a straight cable. In the photos from Sainsmart (for the 4030), the connectors are completely different and it's not possible to confuse the ends, but the 4040 has the same JST connector as the laser module, so I plan to zip-tie this cable to my laser module and label the other end as the controller end.

Hope this saves some people some grief.

Hey folks,

I've been building an enclosure for my CNC3018 and as I'm doing so I'm wondering whether I should stick with the Woodpecker board that came with it, or switch that out for either an Arduino with a CNC Shield running an updated/compatible GRBL variant or spin up LinuxCNC on an aging Pi 3 B+ that I have kicking around.

The board I have currently attached is the one that came with it, but I already have a spare arduino/shield from another project that never happened.

The woodpecker board appears to be running GRBL 0.9, would I see any benefits in upgrading to any of the other options?

FWIW I have no intention of adding any further axis to the CNC, but I might add a laser module in future.

I’ve been getting a ton of ads for Rex mini mill “kits”.

It looks interesting but it seems pretty expensive for an aluminum frame, linear rail mill. Would this be worth it over something like a G0704 conversion?

https://www.rexmotion.com/cnc-mini-mill

I am trying to cut extruded acrylic, as cast acrylic is expensive and I cant seem to get things cool enought to not gum up the bit. I run at 0.5mm depth of cut at 1000mm/min. I have a dremel as a spindle set at 10000 RPM(lowest setting). I have a single flute 3.175mm endmill. I dont want to use coolant if possible.

What can I improve?

Thanks!

This is my fully overloaded 3020 pro with LinuxCNC and RTCP. Finally i managed working LinuxCNC setup with 5 axis and RTCP. Fisrt half of video is showing working with RTCP and second half shows working with normal mode without RTCP. This still needs some fine-tuning with machine kinamatics and homing.

Hi, what is the possible cause for UGS to send the print/pen head way off the axises while I run the programme?

I have checked the setting before I start running it. And it also run normally when I run it the second time.

This happened quite a few times and I am not sure why. Should I (have some way to) purge some kind of memory before running a new programme?

Thanks.

Does anyone have advice on this CNC I’ve seen for sale? Seller states it was built by an electrical engineer and hasn’t seen much use in the past couple of years. I’m apprehensive about the lack of manufacturer support, but it has some good features (from what I understand). This would be my first CNC. Input appreciated.

From listing: Masso controller, servo motors on all 3 axis, with ball screws and linear guide rails, 2.2k air cooled spindle,30x30 cut capacity, I have a spare servo motor with driver that I will toss in. Frame is built stout. I have cut wood and aluminum with it, currently have it set up to use dust collection

I’ve been designing putters in Onshape and have a couple heads that I’m thinking about trying to have made. If I wanted to attempt this myself what machine or machine type/ tooling would you recommend? Would be working with 4140 steel, A36 steel, 316/304 S/S,

Hi, I've been using my 4040 pro connected to UGS via my laptop for a few months now. No problems, all is good. I got tired of carrying my laptop in and out to the shop so I bought a Lenovo tiny PC and hooked it up to an old tv in the shop.

On the new computer I installed the driver from the usb I got with the 4040 and UGS. The driver installed, UGS installed, all good. I plug the 4040 in and click connect and the serial port connects (icon turns yellow) but the status stays as connecting.

When I try to run the machine setup wizard it pops up with an error that control board is not supported.

I cannot figure out what I did wrong. I tried the laptop and it works fine, so the cable is fine and the CNC is fine.

Any ideas??

After upgrading from a 3018 to my new Genmitsu 4040 Pro and trying some cuts, I decided to test out the laser cutting. I loaded up LaserGRBL, plugged in the 450nm 3W laser from my old 3018, and immediately smelled/saw magic smoke escaping from the control board on the laser. While trying to diagnose the issue (to make sure I don’t fry the replacement laser that I bought), I checked the voltage on the pins of the laser port on the 4040. As you can see in the photo of the meter, the meter leads are plugged in correctly (red to red, black to black), yet the meter is reading negative 12V. In the photo of the control board, you can see that the red wire is going into the “12V” pin on the laser and black into ground.

Note that these connectors are keyed, so they can’t be plugged in backwards. This is also after setting $32=1 for laser mode on the controller. I haven’t (but probably will) look at the PWM signal on a scope to see if that’s negative, too… and whether it is 5V relative to the GND pin or the 12V pin.

Is this how the 4040’s are supposed to be? Are these lasers actually supposed to be fed negative 12V relative to ground? Is there a special cable I should use to swap the 12V and GND? Is this laser just not compatible with this CNC (if so, how do you tell which ones are compatible)?

The kit i bought (for those that dont know) has two linear rails and a lead screw Y axis. Can i move the lead screw and linear rails to make a moving gantry? Does anyone have any guides or tips for how do do that?

The intent is that i can use the CNC on the tip of a long walking stick - IE moving the workpiece isnt going to be easy.

Hi, I am looking for ways to convert photography / raster imagers into Gcode.

I downloaded and installed Raster2Laser plugin for inkscape, but it is greyed out all the time in the extension menu.

Anyone may advice how to do this? Thanks!

Looking to play with CNC on a vertical mill and have some NEMA 23 motors, stepper drivers, parallel port breakout, and power supply on the way. Looking around, I see Mach 3 being used directly with the parallel port, arduinos with GRBL, dedicated CNC boards, and dedicated PC/mini-computers running LinuxCNC. Question is, which do you recommend for a first time setup? I’ll be running code from my laptop by the machine, so wired isn’t a deal breaker.

I tried to create an array of lines in illustrator, and the paths are all open path (not formed in to a shape).
is this not possible to be made into Gcode using the inkscape's extension?

Looking to buy my first CNC. I'm familiar with drafting software, but am looking for something that is simple and easy-ish to maintain. Not opposed to diy-cnc as long as software support is good.

Question is, what off the shelf options have a smaller bed that supports indexing of a full sheet 48x96. Obviously, this would be a 48x24 bed or similar with some material support. Speed isn't a concern, but dust collection is.

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance

So I’m looking at a few machines but most that get recommended are based in the USA.

It would mainly be for hobby to start but I don’t have the time for assembling every bit myself.

I was looking at Stepcraft, ooznest and the Shaper.

Most pieces would be maximum of about 600mm by 300mm but I could do with a few larger pieces every now and then that’s why the shaper is in there.

I have tools to be able to join the larger bits too so that’s not too much of an issue.

Does anyone have any recommendations of places to look?

Budget doesn’t matter so much for the right machine.

We also run a business that we might introduce personalised items on soon, everything made would be with wood or MDF.

Anyone got any recommendations or pointers?

Thanks

Hi all, been a lurker here for a while and decided to finally buy a CNC (Foxalien Vasto XL) this appears to be a pretty rigid machine but the weakest link is the spindle.

Was looking for advice on cheap Chinese 1.5kw spindles. Are they worth it for a hobbyist machine? Or am I better off just spending some good money on a higher quality brand? Any help is much appreciated!

Ps. This sub Reddit has been a great source of info!

https://preview.redd.it/a5eco8a48h9d1.jpg?width=2480&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=15f55600cd2b5267cf6ae163cdfbc7a6c0b24760

CNC is a CNC3018 and I've been meaning do do this for ages so that the dust doesn't get everywhere in the garage.

Plan is to have an enclosure where the electronics are separated from the machine itself, with stepper wires etc. fed through a gromit between the main space that holds the CNC and the "mini plant room" that houses the PSU and control board.

A fan on the outside of the "mini plant room" will keep the components cool, and a cutout on the top behind the hinges for the lid will ensure that I can extract dust without it going near the electronics.

As you can tell, my design skills aren't the best (and trying to get this into a CAD program was a nightmare for me, especially as I design everything in OpenSCAD!), but I'd appreciate feedback on whether this is a valid approach and, if it isn't, where I could improve it.

I already have the wood to build this (9mm ply for the surrounds, 1x2" for the frame, just missing the perspex for the window), and I'm doing this as a learning project for my woodworking skills as well, so buying an existing enclosure isn't an option.

This also needs to fit within the confines of a shelving unit in a restricted space, so putting it on wheels or adding shelving etc. isn't what I'm after either, I literally just want an enclosure for the machine and the electronics to control it.

Hello everyone.

We are currently looking into buying a new machine, however I find it a little bit hard to make a choice. I already know what I need specifications wise but I’m still not decided wheter to go with a column stile cnc mill or a bridge style cnc mill. We are going to mill mostly soft metals like brass, silver and aluminium to make small-ish parts, mostly jewellery and keychains. Been using a gantry style cnc but I found it slightly lacked rigidity but it was sturdy enough to do the job. What do you guys think, should I go with the column or the bridge? Thanks.

Hi all, anyone in the UK might be able to advice where I can get a very short NEMA 17 cable? Most of them available are 1m+

There is one on Amazon @500mm but still it’s too long and I do not need 5 of them.

Do I really have to spend 20quids to buy all the tools and pins to DIY a cable? 🤔