CNC 3018pro-M DIY Mini CNC Machine, Latest 3 Axis Wood Router Used As Laser Engraving Milling Machine For Metal Pcb Milling Machine Wood Router Laser Engraving (3018 PRO M)

Great deal, assembled in about an hour, tested on wood with great results and instantly moved to Carbon fiber quadcopter frame, it cut with one of the included bits slowly but definitely works. Overall Highly Amazed

The limited documentation was very nearly useless. I spent days online (Google & YouTube) trying to assemble & reassemble this kit ... and it IS a kit: all pieces to a very complex puzzle. After 3 days I did get it assembled, find the needed software apps, another day to get it to respond, then reality hit me. There was no way I could get this thing to work for me without damaging it or me, as there are no stops on this machine. I'd have to know what I was doing, to understand the Gcode and apps, all to be able to set it up correctly so it would not bang into something or drive itself into the floor. I don't have anyone to help coach me, and I could not find any way to get any assistance from the seller. I got no response to my posted question except from others who had run into similar issues. I cannot say if it worked, as I was unable to safely even test it. I realized that, as a neophyte, I needed a machine that had some safety features built in and some customer service to back it up. A kit from China is not for this newbie. It is affordable (relatively cheap), but I got what I paid for. I just sent it back. I'll have to reconsider my needs vs budget.

You have to buy the laser separate.

This is a pretty fascinating example of some successful approaches to making an extremely inexpensive but functional product, and some examples of where carelessness hurts the end user experience.First of all some preamble: This is a product for people who like to make things, and have some passing familiarity with CNC concepts. If you don't know what "CNC" means, or what a T-slot nut or a leadscrew or a stepper motor is, this may not be the product for you -- yet. Spend some time learning about Gcode, CAD and making things in general (there are a large and growing number of great Youtube channels on these topics), and expect that when building this machine, you're going to be investing time to make something -- which is presumably the interest that compelled you to want this product in the first place.I should start by emphasizing the things that are good about this machine, given its extremely low price. Assembly is very straightforward and mostly well-described by the illustrations (though the labels are often amusingly misspelled or mis-worded. What is "ubiety"?). It's decently sturdy, with little flex relative to the expected forces during operation. Materials are very good, with a delrin-like material utilized for the gantry supports and front and rear panels of the machine (it's definitely not bakelite as claimed in the manual).It's clear that they've cost-optimized nearly everything about the design and production of the machine, eliminating essentially everything that isn't vital for the machine to function. No flanges or washers under screwheads, screws that are in many cases just barely long enough to engage sufficiently into their threaded holes, and stuff that's often considered "necessary" like cable guides and drag chains, and yes as others have noted -- limit switches. The machine will run and work without these, but you'll want to add them when you can get to it. Fortunately, the controller supports limit switches and provides connectors for them, despite none being provided. (There are good drag chain designs available that you can download and 3D print, if you want to make your own).What's disappointing are the "unforced errors" during design and/or manufacturing. Stuff that wasn't due to the low price, but was really just laziness and lack of care. They apparently changed the design of the gantry support at some point, altering its front contour (perhaps to increase rigidity). They didn't bother to make that corresponding change to the adjoining rear contour of the acrylic side panels, so they don't fit properly. There's a significant gap between them at the bottom, and the edges of the panels extend out past the front of the machine (unlike the product photos).Worst though, is the packaging. They have quickly saw-cut the aluminum extrusions, put on some plastic film and tossed them in without cleaning them off, so there are still aluminum chips on the ends, mostly stuck to the light coating of machine oil that's all over everything in the box (as is typical with this kind of product manufactured in China). The chips aren't a big deal for the most part, just have a brush handy to clean the parts off as you unpack and assemble them, making sure to get them out of the threaded holes. Some air duster may help with this. What is a problem though, is the packaging of other bits that could be harmed by the tiny aluminum particles. They took the time to package things like nuts and bolts and cables in plastic bags, but inexplicably they didn't bother to do that with the linear bearing blocks. After some significant time spent trying to get the particles out of the bearings, I eventually had to give up and just accept that the slide action was going to be gritty and bumpy, hoping that this could be mostly overcome by the X and Y axis steppers. For want of a plastic bag, the product has been significantly harmed by the negligent process of packaging it. Probably not on the part of the workers, but in the planning of how to pack the parts for shipment.Overall though, I'm pleased with this router. My expectations of a low-price "toy that's somewhat useful" have been met or exceeded, and I definitely do not regret the purchase.

I am good with my hands so assembly was easy. Unfortunately this will not work with my lap top with Windows 10. I am not a IT person so I'm not sure what it takes to make this work, someone said i need a "patch" installed. Seems to me that there would have been something about this with the package as I am sure i am not the only person who has run in to this.

this item is great, takes a little time to under how to make it work.

Engraver did not work at first. Got a hold of teck finally got that working , put the lazer on and it does not work , sent a letter to them a bout it and it's been over 2 weeks sent another letter and it's been over 2 weeks and never heard back, I would not recommend ,the grbl 3018 at all

its a good thing to start with to learn about and use cnc