Desktop CNC engravers- mystery machines from china
- Thread starter auntiebling
- Start date
goofing off and making crazy stuff that my 6 year old thinks i can fart out in a 10 minte video like coiln furze... i appreciate his high regard for my skill but he needs to learn about the lie of Video Editing!
i don't expect a lot. it could be really handy for just marking out hole patterns more accuurately than i can do with standard layout mehods
there is a k40 on facebook marketplace at the moment. no idea if a new one is more better financially or not
The first things you need to do with a K40 off the shelf is get some new lenses and mirrors and replace the exhaust system. Lens & mirrors will set you back about $30-50, exhaust maybe $70. The same may be true of a used system, plus the tube will have some wear.
An off the shelf k40 also won't have any kind of focusing system. I'd be happy to share my files for my Z-axis table focusing system.
I think R3DS!X has access to 3d printers - this will help making ducts and flanges for exhaust. If not, I'd be happy to print & send to you for material /shipping costs
so you're saying his intro message should be "pay me $20 and i'll take that thing off your hands!"
I mean, I got my K40 for 'free' when I got a tour of the industrial art space a friend of mine manages - it was abandoned by a prior tenant.
it still cost me around $250 to make it serviceable. There was a no laser tube, the mirrors were done, etc. It was basically an X/Y cnc with a high voltage power supply. And it was still a good deal.
Also, and I cannot stress this enough, you need to buy some CO2 laser rated safety glasses. The K40 housing is not sealed. Stray light from the laser beam can burn out your retina instantly. Get safety glasses.
NorCalAthlete
O_o
So I know it's not quite in the same vein, but seeing the discussion here...what do you guys think about the Ghost Gunner desktop CNC machine? Seems to me that it could pretty easily repurposed for other small projects, and there aren't a whole lot of competitors that size / budget.
wilit
Well-known member
Lasers are no joke. I've been working in the fiber optic realm for 20+ years. Had a mentor of mine brain fart and look through a scope while polishing a fiber connector. Didn't realize it was still connected to his OTDR and he got a nice dead spot on his vision.
I haven't worked with the ghost gunner machine itself, so I can't speak to it specifically. It always looked like a cheaply built machine to me from the photos and videos. I assume it's perfectly serviceable for the task it's intended to do - milling 80% lowers into serviceable firearms.
I don't know if the software allows you to do more than that, or if the machine is a one trick pony.
Personally if I wanted a desktop machine to do this kind of millwork, I'
d get a Nomad 883, so I could do whatever the fuck I wanted. But I'm not especially interested in milling gun parts, and the vise on the Ghost Gunner might actually be worth the tradeoff in this case
NorCalAthlete
O_o
Far as I know it comes pre-loaded with the specs for lowers, but you can swap out and do whatever you want on it.
Yeah, without dicking around with the software, it's tough to know if you can feed your own CAD into it, and without access to the machine, tough to know what controller it uses. I would bet that you can feed it GRBL, and they wouldn't try to make their own flavor of GCode.
Again, their past machines look cheaply made. I haven't seen detailed photos of the GG3. If it comes with a good milling vise that might justify the decision between it and the Nomad - those will set you back a few bills easy.
NorCalAthlete
O_o
Good to know, thanks. I'll have to do some more digging.