Customer Reviews for Vevor CNC 3018 DIY 3 Axis Engraver Kit GRBL Control Milling Machine For Wood PVB PCB

Documentation could use some work, but overall it's a great hobby machine.

Exceeded expectations. assembly was easy, machine works very well! Great value.

After owning and selling a 24”x48” cnc machine (was too big for my shop) I was looking for something a little smaller that could cut wood, plastic and aluminum for small projects. For the price of this unit I couldn’t really lose so I gave it a shot. When I opened the box I was immediately impressed. Its all aluminum and ships with stainless steel cap screws. To be honest, any screws would’ve worked but the fact that they used stainless just speaks of how they had quality in mind. Two of the supports are extruded plastic but are very stout and serve their purpose well. The spindle holder is also plastic but is over engineered and well built/designed. Instructions are VERY well written unlike most Chinese product manuals. They’re in English and not Engrish. Once assembled, the unit is rock solid. This is by far the best quality “cheap Chinese” machine I’ve ever purchased. After using it for about a month I can say it does everything I need. The included “Candle” software is super easy to use and what’s great is that if you get stumped there are tons of articles and videos about it online. As you’ve probably gathered, I am happily pleased with this purchase. Just a nice little gem. It’s not often that you feel like you’ve won when buying something that seems too cheap for what it is but in this case that’s exactly how you will feel.

First off this is my first CNC routing machine so what I provide here is just factual observations as I begin exploring my new hobby.Inventory review:1. The mainboard: a. Identical to description photo! b. Confirmed A4988 Drivers which are easily replaceable.2. Steppers: a. All axis use steppers 42BYGH34H-2A-13D 1.8Deg 1.3A3. 1x ER Collet Size: 1/84. 1x ER11 coupler 5mm5. 10x VBits: 3.175mm 30Deg 0.1mm6. All plastic parts are injection molded7. Colored manual with part inventory and steps8. 1x Strange desk lamp9. 24v 5A power brick with US plug10. 10mm Linear Rods11. All axis equiped with antibacklash nut and spring12. No endstops or Z probe hardware (as expected)Additional thoughts for MFG:1. An ALL METAL option to replace all plastic parts2. Motor upgrade option

Overall: Absolutely love the simplicity of this design. For the price it is an excellent system. Of course, don't expect to match a $10,000 system though. There are a couple of short comings to the design. First and probably the weakest point is the anti-backlash springs. They are way too weak. When you purchase this system also purchase TWO of the cheap anti backlash T8-4 (2mm pitch with 2 starts) nut assemblies. Use the springs from those sets instead of the ones included in this kit. Secondly, the design relies on the stepper motor's bearings--this is bad. You can partially fix this by purchasing 8mm locking rings. You only need two but they appear to come in sets of 10. Mount them snugly against the bearing on the far side of the T8 screws so as to apply pressure back into the motor. This isn't the best of solutions but it does help.Modification: Consider purchasing 500mm long 10mm chrome steel rods and a 500mm T8-4 (2mm pitch with 2 starts) and a couple of pieces of the 20mm x 20mm linear rail each cut to about 520mm. Longer won't hurt and a little shorter just means you won't be able to extend the axis quite as much (2cm less). With these parts you can end up with a system with a working field of about 12"(305mm) x 16"(406mm). I've done this mod using 600mm parts and it still works well. If doing this mod one MUST be aware that overloading the chrome steel rods will bend them! Slow down your vertical (plunge) feed rate so as to minimize the forces on those rods.

That was easy to assemble and exactly as described. Within a few hours I had taken a photo of my daughters drawing and, uploaded it into a program and had it carved onto a wood board as a test. Very excited for some more custom made and unique projects for this. R.H.

Overall, this was a great purchase! In short, I feel like I got exactly what was advertised. Of all the comments I read online about this model, the only thing I was worried about was finding assembly instructions. This product came with a USB thumb drive with assembly instructions and software. The installation is build by picture, which may not be easy for everyone. I spent about 3 hours assembling it and had no issues powering it on and using it.If I had any complaints, not related to the supplier, I could not find limit switches specifically designed to plug and play into the CNC-3018 model. Instead, I am having to creatively buy switches, perform some soldering, and mount them however I can. - RA

This is an excellent introductory item for CNC engraving at a very reasonable price. Delivery was prompt, kit was complete. Construction took several hours, but it pays to be slow and carefully check alignment at each step, as there are many places where there is nothing that forces correct positioning, and it must be done by measuring. Consider the construction sequence carefully at each step, as the order in which things are tightened down has a big effect on alignment. Machine worked first time using the supplied examples. This is not a heavy-duty machine and cannot be pushed hard without flexing, but for the price it does a great job of light cutting and etching. Adding end stops, additional stiffening and other 3D-printed accessories is easy thanks to the X-rail chassis (except for the Z, where there is nothing convenient for attaching). The controller is by VigoTec but I can't find any details, which is disappointing as I would like to disable Z-Axis homing (which isn't used for CNC) in the GRBL (rather than using a custom homing command).

Very impressed with the Vevor 3018 pro, it was easy to assemble with good graphic instructions, it is a solid unit with good quality components .. it is very easy to setup and use, Vevor support were terrific to deal with, All in all a brilliant product at a great price

This was my first CNC of any kind. I wanted something to make small projects for my friends and grandkids. This little CNC router did not disappoint. It was everything I expected and went right together with no issues. I would definitely purchase and recommend to anyone wanting to get into the hobby CNC world. Thank you so much Vevor!!