Hello!
First one note:
I do not really NEED a router. But i want one for just playing around with it and producing parts for house decoration and rc model aircrafts. This means: Mostly wood, maybe some acrylic and other plastic, rarely soft metal (sheets) should be worked on. Reliability of the machine is not critical. If something goes wrong i should be able to replace mechanical and/or electronic parts by myself as those chinese 6040 mainly use standard components that are widely available.
But: Which version should i buy?
I live in germany. Here on ebay are dozens of sellers (mostly belonging to a single chinese company) that have storage in germany (no vat on delivery). Mechanically the machines look identical. But they are delivered with different spindles and controllers. I think for my usage the 800W spindle should be strong enough.
I have read the huge 6040 thread in this forum but i am still confused about the controllers. Most links in older posts in this thread do not work anymore as "carving cnc" is not "omnio cnc" with a new website (and new and slightly different machines). Omnio routers are too expensive for my plan (as they are delivered from china and i have to add e.g. 19% vat to the price).
I know that the control boxes tend to fail. But maybe i have luck and it works "out of the box". If not i have to change the electronic. But if the delivered control box works i want to use it - at least for some time.
If i purchase a kit with a parallel port i should be able to add any motion controller (like smoothieboard) without problems. Directly attached to my computer (with parallel port) it should work with mach3 and emc2 (i do not know which software i want to use).
If i buy a set with usb control box i need a special driver - hopefully delivered by the seller - to enable mach3 to drive the machine. No chance to use EMC2 in this case. And no chance to add something like smothieboard.
I think the usb control boxes contain an arduino (or something simular) that generates the stepper pulse.
Question: Is it possible to change a chinese usb control box to parallel? Is it possible to directly access the stepper EN/DIR/PULSE pins? Maybe connectors/cables between the usb logic and the stepper drivers?
Second question: Are there differences in the quality of the control box that are "visible" from outside? I think usb control boxes are newer developments?
There is at least one box offered that has a connection to the inverter to drive the spindle. There is a knob that can be used to set the spindle speed "manually" or "pc".
Type A offer:
https://www.ebay.de/itm/1500W-6040-C...cj9eAMIgY4kmRg
Another (black) box has 2 switches for pump and vfd. I am not sure if this box is capable of controlling the spindle with mach3.
Type B offer:
https://www.ebay.de/itm/NEW-3-Axes-M...8AAOSwpONZS5Pr
Another (blue) box with parallel port does not contain an inverter for the spindle. The inverter is a separate box.
Type C offer:
https://www.ebay.de/itm/Router-Engra...AAAOSw5UZY-Z5k
Yet another beige/grey box only has a power switch, emergency halt and a display with some switches for the spindle. And parallel port. Those seem to be the cheapest offers. I think to control the spindle from mach3 with this controllers i have to add some electronics and connect the parallel port with the inverter?
Type D offer:
https://www.ebay.de/itm/1-5KW-CNC-Ro...IAAOSwR29ZECkB
Which one to choose?
Best regards, Udo
