Genmitsu 3018-PROVer V2 CNC Router Machine for Beginner, Mini Milling Engraver Kit with Z-Probe, Limit Switches, E-Stop, Ideal for Wood, Acrylic, MDF, Plastic, PVC (Without Offline Controller)

The CNC came nicely boxed, with all parts, and (mostly) clear instructions. One axis was labeled Y twice, but other than that, no other typos. Amazingly, even without full calibration, the test files worked right away! It definitely takes some tinkering if you want to mill your (or someone else's) 3D models. That said, I'm impressed with the build quality and fits of all the parts. It's well engineered.Recommendations:1) start with dense foam insulation as you can rip thru it without endangering the drill bit. Later, experiment with soft woods and such.2) Find some slicer software to turn STL models into gcode. I found kiri:moto is free and works great. I have found that I needed to edit the top header of the gcode it created, but that was just copying and pasting the top few lines from the examples into the created gcode, replacing the startup sequence (easier than it sounds).3) Learn a little bit about what gcode is. It's a line by line series of commands that control the CNC. It's all text and is pretty simple. Mostly, just know what the machines wants (everything measured in mm) and give it that. :) Again, the supplied examples that came with the machine will help you figure that out.4) the Candle software works great (and its cool watching it model the tool path), though I found it freezing up on long runs (more than an hour). I now make the gcode, offload it to the (supplied) microSD card, plugged it into the offline controller, and ran the file directly; no mid-mill faults with this method whatsoever.5) milling generates a LOT of fine shavings. Have a vac or dustpan nearby. I decided to buy a plastic, translucent, container I can put over the whole machine while it runs, to help contain the dust and shavings.6) The machine is pretty quiet. I have it running in the garage and when I enter the house, I can't hear it at all. That said, I think the above mentioned cover will also deaden the sound a bit more (it's high-pitched noisy next to the machine).7) A bunch of engraving bits are supplied, but I'd recommend buying some additional end-mill bits if you plan to do milling with depth (i.e. not just cutting words into a flat plate) as the supplied knife-like bits aren't the best for that task.8) getting this slightly more expensive version with the hard stops and emergency stop button has already paid off. I can't imagine getting a machine without those. I'd have ruined it with my first self-made gcode. That may be just me, but if you haven't done milling before, get this machine to provide a modicum of forgiveness to your first solo runs.All in all, I'm really happy with this machine! It's an experiment, but a well-functioning one.

First off, the caveats. This isn't a $20,000 Tormach CNC or anything like it. However, it IS in the same league of where 3D printers were about 7-10 years ago. If you calibrate your expectations, you will not be disappointed! I purchased this primarily to mill PCBs but also to do a few wood cuts and similar projects. I immediately purchased an upgraded milling motor for future use, as well as the 5.5W laser engraver. The upgraded mill is great for higher-power applications, but the included 775 motor is actually plenty powerful for most engraving and PCB milling applications. If you do upgrade to a more powerful mill, contact Sainsmart for a 3D-printable 52mm bracket - it's the perfect fit for the limit switches. You'll want to purchase 4x LM8SUU bearings (17mm) because the 35mm-long bearings are impossible to find. I damaged mine when I was pulling out the linear rods.Second thing you'll want to do is to resurface (face) your spoilboard. Do this, and you won't need to fiddle with autoleveling the entire PCB or anything like that when milling PCBs. Also, your engravings and woodworking will come out beautifully, same with laser engravings and the like.While the integrated offline controller works okay, this mill is best used with a PC so that you can accurately reposition the toolhead during tool changes. The integrated controller doesn't do a good job there. The depth probe works very well, make sure to replace the included GCode with updated GCode from the manual. The stock probe height is 14.19mm, but I found that mine is actually closer to 14.35mm. Be sure you use a good caliper to measure it.By far the biggest learning curve is setting up your CAD software (e.g., Fusion 360) to work with the mill. However, once you've done it, this thing is super reliable! Same for figuring out things like KiCad - you'll want to make things extra "chunky", by using extra large pads and making your traces larger. I was able to do 0.2mm traces, but those aren't reliable. Instead, I just set 1mm trace sizes and 1mm of clearance, and every board has been perfect. I know it's not ideal for large-scale integration, but that's the wrong application for this mill.Ultimate verdict is this: Take the time to learn this mill's limitations and how to best get it set up. Once you do, you'll be quite impressed. It's easy to set up (the 15 minute setup is nonsense - budget at least an hour), tolerances are quite good, and like I said, it reliably does what you need it to do. At this price, it's impossible to beat this machine!

This is a great machine if you’re just starting out, which I was, I found the easel software to be very user friendly and very easy to use, cost like 20$ a month but I say we’ll worth it, I would highly recommend getting the extended Y axis table and spoil board, opens up more opportunity and a little more freedom due to less size restrictions, either way I wouldn’t try and run it to its limits! It does cut very accurately, though it does take quite a bit of time, I haven’t tried hardwoods yet but with the upgraded spindle I haven’t had any issues in soft woods, plastics and aluminum, if you do aluminum don’t be cheap on your bits, and don’t get greedy and set your depth to deep per pass. It’s a little, fairly noisy, but if you’re crafty a rubber maid tote, some sheet foam and a cord grip pretty much cuts the noise, the controller is a little tricky, so just make sure you play around try some simple copy and paste projects (you can do that on easel I’m not sure about other softwares) not so much detail to get the hang of things. Awesome little machine, great for learning or deciding you’re actually into it before you upgrade and very fun to watch!