CNC 3018 Pro GRBL Control DIY Mini CNC Machine, 3 Axis PCB Milling Machine, Wood Router Engraver with Offline Controller, with ER11 and 5mm Extension Rod

The CNC machine was well packed and the components seemed to be of decent quality. Everything was well packed and logically grouped together.The kit came with no documentation, but included a mini-CD that reportedly contains assembly instructions and software. My CD was unreadable. I have a variety of laptops and PC's and none could read the disk. So, off to the internet, where I found that SainSmart has a machine that appears to be the same. I downloaded the instruction and software zip file from SainSmart to use in assembly, which worked fine. The machine went together with no issues other than a few of the Socket Head Cap Screws had misshapen heads and the Allen key was too large to fit into them.Once assembled, it was time to load and test the software. Since I couldn't read the CD, I looked at the SainSmart zip file to see what they used, which is Candle v1.1.7. Their archive only came with the windows version and my shop machine is linux based, so I downloaded Candle 1.1.7 for linux. I was able to connect to the machine, jog the bit around and fire up the spindle motor, but because of an unsolvable Unknown Status message in Candle, it wasn't much use. I did manage to jam the bit with the spindle running, which smoked a diode(D3) and MOSFET(q3) on the control board in the second or two it took me to pull power. The diode is rated at 5A and the MOSFET has no heat sink and very little copper on the board to dissipate heat. Both parts are rather marginal in this application. The lesson here is that no matter what you do, don't jam the spindle when it is under power.I replaced both parts with THT devices with ample heat sinks to get the machine running again and went searching for better software. In the end, I tried Candle, UGS (Universal Gcode Sender) and bCNC under linux. UGS worked well for everything except auto-leveling, which is currently broken under the latest UGS. bCNC, despite looking a little cartoonish, worked great and has ample features that make it a really good choice for a gcode sender.All in all, I'm pretty pleased with the machine, but a lot of my problems could have been solved with decent documentation and included software. It is notable that the description says the machine can be built in 20 minutes. That might be true in an assembly line situation where you could become practiced at building them one after another. It took me about an hour and a half, and I'm an experienced technician that's been doing this stuff for 30 years.

This machine does great as long as you are mindful of it's limitations. It is not meant to machine or mill metal, I bought it to engrave aluminum and it does a good job of that because aluminum is a soft metal and I am cutting it to a max depth of a few hundredths of an inch. Assembly was straightforward and everything fit together well. Once assembled I was able to make some basic cuts with the manual controller. One important note, you need to unplug the manual controller before you can run the machine with a PC. Then I got it connected to my PC and tested it by sending some basic G-code files that I created using F-Engrave. I ended up purchasing a 45 degree engraving bit as I broke 8 of the 10 included engraving bits (all my fault, I was trying to cut too deeply) and it has worked well to engrave 4 or 5 different pieces. One important bit of advice, set the depth of your cut very shallow and work your way up. If the depth is too shallow, it won't make a line or the line won't be deep enough. You can just reset it a bit deeper and start the program again if that happens. If your depth is too deep, you will break the bit or damage the work piece. Much easier to start shallow and get deeper each pass. I am very satisfied with this purchase but it did take some learning on my part before I was able to get the results I wanted.

I'm really happy with this product. It did have some problems that needed to be corrected but if you are going to be using a CNC machine, you should be able to fix things yourself since... that's kinda the point of owning one.The problem I ran into was that the X-Axis kept slipping and coming loose. The design has tension screws to hold things in place but vibration will quickly make them loose. I resolved this on mine with some JB Weld. Held up for months now since then.Works great for plastics. Cuts ABS like a dream so long as you periodically cleanup with a small vaccume cleaner. CNC machines by design make a huge mess so I highly recommend keeping a small vaccume nearby.Cutting aluminum is... doable but you have to be very patient. Like 1mm every four to five seconds kind of patient. I've done it though.The purchase does NOT come with a cutting/toolpath software nor a gcode sender program. You will need to source them yourself. I purchased a copy of Aspire for cutting and used the Universal GCODE Sender program to transfer the GCODE files generated by Aspire.

Completely missing the offline controller, even though I paid for it. Seller sent controller separate and it arrived damaged. The machine itself is made ok but needs good tools and gauges to set it up square. The er11 collet takes from the Z axis a lot and 3d printing a upgraded part is needed. Screws for the bed are way too short, which is a known issue. Make sure you buy some 5mmx16mm cap screws. The hold downs its comes with are bolts and they will damage the bed if you use them. Buy a 6mm T slot hold down set right away. Overall this machine can be made into a decent little setup with some care and time. Also, investing further into better parts as needed.

This is a very nice little CNC, I am still trying to figure it out. There is a lot of documentation available, but it is not as easy to use as you would think it should be. If you have the time to devote, you can figure it out, and it is plenty powerful enough to cut most materials. Do yourself a favor and buy the laser head for it, very nice.

The machine itself is easy to assemble but there is absolutly no instructions for operating it. The CD is a mini CD and will not play in most computers. It should be great once I figure out how to operate it. It is the perfect size for what I want to do.

I did not come with instructions, missing cable for one component, no cd. More than a little disappointing. Who do I call? I’d give it a minus 5 if possible. Total junk!🥵

Small issues with the software but other than that way cool toy. And for the price it is crazy. Thanks