Nice thorough review! Your build video of it enticed me enough to buy one for myself a few weeks ago. It's a great machine, but I've already found some ways to upgrade it: The stock spindle is good, but mine had a fair amount of runout in the motor shaft. There is a small amount of adjustability in the set screws of the ER11 tool holder, but I wasn't able to get mine low enough to be satisfactory to me. Additionally, the shaft deflects quite a bit under load, causing chatter. I ended up upgrading it to a 600W Deadelus brushless ER11 spindle. So far I'm really happy with that: it has a very small runout, and the ER11 tool holder is machined out of the shaft of the motor, so it's nice and stiff. There is very little deflection under load. Also, the collet nut that came with it is heaps better than the stock spindle's. I'll be looking forward to your video about your spindle upgrade! Another big issue with the WM-3020 is, despite having ballscrews, there is still an amount of "backlash" introduced by the lack of proper bearing mounts. I had read about this being necessary on DIY CNC forums but I wasn't really sure why until I got my machine. When a force is applied in the axial direction on a ball screw, there needs to be something to take that load and prevent it from sliding (you want the ball screw nut to slide, not the entire ball screw!). On the WM-3020, this force is taken in one direction by a flange-mount bearing, and the other by the bearings in the stepper motor. None of these interfaces are made rigidly, they are all slip-fit. Unless there is some preload applied (which there wasn't, and I think it would be hard to do) you will be able to shift the entire ball screw in and out without it rotating (ie. your axis will slide when it gets pushed towards the stepper motor). I solved this issue using some thrust bearings and machined bearing mounts that take the load instead of the stepper motor's bearings. For some reason the machine came with the GRBL setting "step idle delay" set to 25ms. As soon as an axis hasn't been moving for more than 25 milliseconds, it will turn off the stepper motor. I don't think this makes any sense for a CNC machine. For a lot of toolpaths, the Z height isn't changed for a long time. With this setting left at 25ms, your Z-axis stepper will turn off and upward or downward forces will cause your Z-axis to shift and you will loose those steps. This is a lot easier to happen with ballscrews than with lead screws, which have more sliding friction. You will also almost always lose whatever microstep position you were holding before it was turned off. I highly recommend disabling this feature! I'm still discovering ways to improve the rigidty of the machine (for example the plate that holds the Z-axis stepper is a little thin, and flexes under loads in the Z-axis), but overall I'm extremely pleased with it. I am looking forward to an increased Z-axis height kit (If I don't make one myself first...). That would be very nice because as it is currently, as soon as you add some fixturing you run out of extra height to install your bits!
Thanks for pointing out the issues. Would you share the link to the thrust bearings and the STL of your bearing mount in case you machined it with the CNC?
Bearings of that 300W "spindle" are placed in rubber seatings. That's where the shutter comes from. If you don't want to mess up your bits, think about changing spindle or just remove rubber seating and put something made of metal instead. Before I bought this machine I asked FA if they can sell me it without this f*cking "spindle" and they did not agree so... I also have it...
Very helpful comment, thanks! Can you provide some details about your modifications? I'm also interest in information about interchange of the spindle, guide or so? Thank you again!
I've just ordered one of these (Black Friday Deal!) partly because of your excellent review here. I'd also like to thank you for responding to all the various questions people have put to you, which i have also found very useful. Great RU-vid - Thanks!
Building my own 5050 at the moment using a modded 3018 to make the custom parts, always enjoy watching new designs for ideas, cheers for the great videos.
Nice video. I like the part where you make the PCB for the HY VFD. Can you tell me if these are available for sale? I just bought two of these machines and I have 65m 800w spindles with the HY VFD. I would like to control them with something like the board you created. Please let me know and if there is something available. Nice job, Marty
The y-axis linear rails and ball screw axis is exposed to dust and aluminium chips. How much dust/chips is still going into the rails/ball screw axis with a dust shoe? Which other means are recommended/required to avoid fast wear out of the rails/axis? In your video of the "Sainsmart Genmitsu 3020 Pro Max" you added some DPC material at the bottom of the table bed as a dust shield...
I like your video style a lot because you are going straight to the point. But provides still a lot of information around the topic. Two additional topics as a dedicated video would also be very interesting: 1) Attachment methods: o According to material: Aluminium/wood o Scotch: I did not yet understood why there is no double sided scotch used. Instead this "special" green one is used!? o Primer/Glue/Scotch method: I saw this method a lot but did not yet understood its main advantage. o Turning the machining object for maching its sides. Correct referencing after unscrewing the machining object. o Vises: Important aspects of them. There are cheap and expensive ones. What makes sense to invest for such a type of machine? o Egalization/Parallization(?) of four machining object faces? 2) Mills / Cooling: o Which coating/mill base material for which working material? o When is cooling required? Which types are when recommended? (I saw your video "Sainsmart Genmitsu 3020 Pro Max" which already gives some details) o Flute types: Single, dual, etc. When to use which? o Material removal/Surface finish: Which mills are recommended for material removal and which are good for a smooth surface? o Operating depth: What has to be considered if you want to create deep pockets? Say 30-40mm? Is it the mill cut depths only? Or more the Z-axis stability? Maybe you do a video with a bit more complex (40x40x40mm and ) wood/aluminium/steel objects and go into the mentioned aspects above a bit more in detail? Thanks a lot!
I have subscribed after watching this very interesting machine. I am not in a hurry to get a cnc machine but I await the upgrade vid for the VFD spindle with higher power.
God damn and not a second too soon. Definitely gonna have to get one of these, I can see this being my templates machine especially with a router upgrade.
@@FingerEverything That's awesome man! Glad to see another fingerboarder here! And yes, I do sell molds, currently 3D printing them and I'm building a mill to be able to machine them out of aluminum this spring.
I'm not FoxAlien but they advertised that it'll support a future extension kit. No information on how much it'll extend it by but I'm assuming it'll be at least comparable to a 3040 or bigger.
Which would you recommend for aluminum and hardwood projects using either a dewalt/makita or 1.5kW spindle: WM-3020 or ProverXL 4030. Is this machine a lot more accurate compared to the 4030? Are the Nema 17 stepper motors of the WM-3020 a major limitation? Thanks!
I would recommend a VFD for sure, the stock spindle is not bad for what it is but really still a wee bit underpowered. I was planning on getting a 600W Teknomotor for mine but it is a bit of a challenge to get that mounted as it is a square style Spindle and the mounting bolts are on the back. That means it would need an adapter plate but then problem 2 is that it is 68 mm wide and the mounting holes on the Z plate are 70mm apart. In short I would most likely have to drill extra holes in the Z plate. I might still do it if the 1.5KW spindle I have on order turns out to be a bad buy but for now I will just use the 65mm optional spindle holder and that 1.5KW vfd driven spindle. As for the steppers, they are Nema 17 so I also got a set of Nema 17 Closed Loop steppers and T42 drivers to go with it. Was planning on replacing the control board with something else anyways (interested in playing around with the ESP32 based GRBL forks and replacements like FluidNC etc). The base controler, while perfectly useable for most people, just didn't have the ... what's the word ... tinkering potential I want. I was in doubt about getting Nema 17 Servos like the iHSS42-24-07 but getting Servos set up correctly for my usecase (isolation milling PCBs and making faceplated and enclosures in POM etc.) would probably drive me insane (too many parameters to deal with on servos).
I have been thinking about purchasing this machine. Will it handle aluminum well also if I upgrade the gantry to steel plates do you think that it would help with ridgity? I am thinking of different ways to upgrade this machine? Or if you know of any other cnc machines that are already built well enough to handle aluminum and stainless steel could you point me in the right direction? Thank you for all you time in the videos you make.
great video, i've been referencing it a lot. What post processor did you use out of fusion 360 for your wm3020? I'm having trouble with consistency from fusion tool path simulation to what the program looks like after posting
Hello. I also bought such a machine. How do you work on the machine if the spindle speed control does not work with G-code commands? I also do not adjust the slider.
Leave the spindle speed at maximum and then set your feedrate accordingly. The spindle has maximum torque at maximum speed, so there is no real advantage in changing it.
Yes 1050, which for the benefit of others is horrible to cut, soft and gummy, not a recommended grade of aluminium, but actually quite a good test. 6061T6 or 6082T6 are my recommended grades of aluminium for machining.
Awesome review! Just ordered mine !! I was looking to get the 800w 65mm spindle but was wondering if you get any flex on the z axis or does the machine feel solid enough along with the nema 17 to handle the weight of the spindle?
@@techydiy Thank you for your feedback. Perhaps you could add this to your machine tests in the future. I think there are many out there who would like to use the milling machine for this purpose, especially since smd is also becoming more and more interesting for the hobby user.
Candle doesn't specifically support it, but you can setup macro buttons . Grbl does support it. You would connect the tool setter to the probe input. UGS would be a better software option than candle. Its on my list of things to setup at some point.
@@techydiy ok thanks for the answer. Then i see if i can get ugs to work and got find a macro for it. Dunno why its not in candle. As a newbie i think it relatively important to have the possibility to do that. Estlcam would be nice to have tho but i dont think the controller can do. Have to check that controller they using
The grade of aluminium makes a big difference. 6061 T6. Or 6082 T6. Cuts well. Also try a single flute endmill (for aluminium) and use the correct feed rate and speed. You can also use wd40 for lubrication.
To find the maximum feed rate and acceleration you have to test each axis until the stepper motors lose steps, then back off to about 80% of that value. 2000 mm/min was conservative on my machine.
@@techydiy The classic cutting fluid for aluminium is WD-40 which you can apply using a spray-can and plastic tube nozzle. I don't know if it would make a difference when using TiN-coated cutting tools though. Maybe machining different grades of aluminium would benefit from using WD-40 but it's still going to make a bit of a mess regardless. I'm interested to see if it can cut steel given enough time and possibly mist coolant with carbide tooling. I've also got some brass parts I'd like to make, including some decorative 3D-relief brass plaques. I'm going to order a WM-3020 very soon but there don't seem to be any Black Friday deals on this particular unit where I am (the United Kingdom). The UK Amazon store seems to be my best bet at 759 pounds UK inc. VAT, shipping etc. Thanks for the review, very helpful.
buymeacoffee.com/techydiy Foxalien bit.ly/3wBWIJD Amazon amzn.to/3VrvO0R Amazon UK amzn.to/3gE3bi7 WM3020 with 40W laser bundle bit.ly/wm3020-40w-laser WM3020 with 20W laser bundle bit.ly/wm3020-20w-lazer Note: The Foxalien website prices include tax & import duty. Endmills for aluminium Single flute DLC coated amzn.to/3px4fZW Some of the links above are affiliate links. If you click on the link and buy something, you will not pay anything extra, but we might receive a small income, which is used to pay for future videos.
In Fusion 360 it is the width of cut or step over associated with an adaptive toolpath. The adaptive toolpath does its best to present a constant load to the endmill.
Only superficially. The 3020 pro max lacks linear rails on the Y and z axis. It also uses lead screws instead of ballscrews. It’s performance is quite inferior.
