Milling Machine DRO

[Susquatch]

I think that refers to the method they use to ship. Basically, they stick it into this multiweb of shipping systems. It goes into a big cesspool of shippers, they hand off to each other and juggle it with other shipments, cost complicate the carrier, but somehow after going around the whole world three times, it gets to you. You hope......

 

[Doggggboy]

I think that refers to the method they use to ship. Basically, they stick it into this multiweb of shipping systems. It goes into a big cesspool of shippers, they hand off to each other and juggle it with other shipments, cost complicate the carrier, but somehow after going around the whole world three times, it gets to you. You hope......

And if you are expecting something from Amazon right now. there might be a delay due to the tornados in Kentucky. Terrible stuff. I am waiting for an Ebay shipment coming through a hub in Erlanger, Kentucky and won't be surprised if it is delayed or gone altogether. Don't really care about the thing, just hope people are ok.

 

[Canadium]

That sounds like Aliexpress to me. They take your payment and almost immediately tell you your order has been shipped and then a month later it appears it is actually getting out the door. Then you wait some more. However despite all the frustrations (misleading or false advertising and shipping claims) I have been "mostly" pleased with my products in the end when I take into account the purchase price. My DRO was my best purchase and I think you will liley be happy with yours also.

I thought they all did this! This past year after placing one order with Amazon with great fanfare they announced my order was shipped. The next day they sent me a message saying they wouldn't be able to fulfill the order because it was out of stock and they refunded my money! I said what!? Wait a minute!

They had just confirmed what I had always suspected. The item has shipped notice means squat! Its just to make themselves look good!

 

[Susquatch]

I thought they all did this! This past year after placing one order with Amazon with great fanfare they announced my order was shipped. The next day they sent me a message saying they wouldn't be able to fulfill the order because it was out of stock and they refunded my money! I said what!? Wait a minute!

They had just confirmed what I had always suspected. The item has shipped notice means squat! Its just to make themselves look good!

Ya. It's a big bag of slimy worms.

My wife and I do a lot of Amazon shopping. We live in the sticks so driving to town whenever we need something is basically very expensive shipping.

We almost always choose only prime items because they "usually" ship directly from Amazon. You can always check because the listing will say if it doesn't. We have never been disappointed with that other than during the peak of the pandemic when everything was compromised.

For non amazon direct stuff, amazon is just a middle man. They get a notification from the real seller/shipper and send that on to you. It may or may not be correct. What I hate most about these non amazon direct sales is that sometimes they promise 2 day shipping only to send you a notice that it is coming from China. I almost always cancel.

 

[Darren]

As far as shipping goes, Intelcom has to be the worst. They hire contractors, ala Skip The Dishes, Uber and these contractors only deliver when they feel like it. My last package was in town for 2 weeks before it got delivered last night. Tracking showed at least 6 delivery attempts. Guy has bald tires, delivering to a rural area, and keeps getting stuck. My neighbor saw him on the road last night at 9pm and thats how i got the package.

KBC tools just hit me with a $245.00 shipping charge on my surface plate...said they couldn't find a cheaper option.

 

[YotaBota]

KBC tools just hit me with a $245.00 shipping charge on my surface plate

Ouch, that must be a big plate.
I've been looking at this one but haven't pulled the pin yet.

Amazon.ca

 

[Darren]

I need a bigger plate so I got the 18x24 , so quite heavy yes.

 

[DavidR8]

Ouch, that must be a big plate.
I've been looking at this one but haven't pulled the pin yet.

Amazon.ca

I have that plate Mike and it's really quite excellent for my needs.
@dfloen Before I bought the HHIP plate I had ordered one from KBC because it was on a crazy sale. They actually called me and said shipping was going to be something like $300+ if I recall correctly. This despite the fact that I can get 50 lbs delivered from KBC for $10...
Did appreciate the heads up though....

 

[Susquatch]

I got mine at Busy Bee at least a decade ago. I have been quite happy with it.

A 24x18x3 is still $90.

 

[Darren]

I got mine at Busy Bee at least a decade ago. I have been quite happy with it.

A 24x18x3 is still $90.

I couldn't find one on their site in 24x18x3, i see 12x18.

Shipping is crazy these days but I was shocked at 245.

 

[ShawnR]

Ordered this one tonight. Free shipping to Canada and by the end of November..... We will see. I know it is not the new LCD screens but I am ok with that.

My first adventure with AliExpress.

278.04C$ 21% OFF|Dro 3 Axis Digital Readout Display With 3pcs Linear Scale Travel 50-1020mm For Milling Lathe Machine Digit Counter Complete Unit - Level Measuring Instruments - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

Well, this seems to have gone south. I have been trying to track the shipment with little success. Whenever I emailed the company, asking for tracking information that worked, I received an automated response that asked me to select a scale size, ie, no one reads the emails. Shipping info only said within 13 days, and has been that since I ordered it. So last night I started a "Dispute" and today the company sent me a message saying "Sorry dear, the order was lost".... and would I like them to ship it again....

I said no, just refund and I will try again with another supplier. First AliExpress experience = not so hot.

 

[DavidR8]

Well that sucks.
This is the store I ordered from. Zero complaints.

Drogiitao Official Store - Amazing prodcuts with exclusive discounts on AliExpress

Discover the wide range of from AliExpress Top Seller Drogiitao Official Store.Enjoy ✓Free Shipping Worldwide! ✓Limited Time Sale ✓Easy Return.

drogiitao.aliexpress.com

 

[Tom Kitta]

Well, this seems to have gone south. I have been trying to track the shipment with little success. Whenever I emailed the company, asking for tracking information that worked, I received an automated response that asked me to select a scale size, ie, no one reads the emails. Shipping info only said within 13 days, and has been that since I ordered it. So last night I started a "Dispute" and today the company sent me a message saying "Sorry dear, the order was lost".... and would I like them to ship it again....

I said no, just refund and I will try again with another supplier. First AliExpress experience = not so hot.

Its a marketplace. You should have picked free DHL / Fedex tracking and would have just checked where it is. Don't worry they refund you $ so you are just out 2 weeks.

So far the only one that is magnet for issues is my mom - she seems to have issue with every other sale. Me, almost no issues.

Also if you have issues with recent Chinese made electric item check thermal fuse - these guys have some kind of a batch of 1 billion bad thermal fuses / thermal elements. They are like 10 cents each but whole device breaks down.

 

[DPittman]

Well, this seems to have gone south. I have been trying to track the shipment with little success. Whenever I emailed the company, asking for tracking information that worked, I received an automated response that asked me to select a scale size, ie, no one reads the emails. Shipping info only said within 13 days, and has been that since I ordered it. So last night I started a "Dispute" and today the company sent me a message saying "Sorry dear, the order was lost".... and would I like them to ship it again....

I said no, just refund and I will try again with another supplier. First AliExpress experience = not so hot.

That was exactly like my first experience. They said the order got lost and then said they reshipped the item and then after it didn't show up again they said it was because my location was remote and they could not ship to me. I canceled and reordered the exact same thing from another Aliexpress supllier and received it in reasonable time and am completely pleased with the product.

 

[ShawnR]

Its a marketplace. You should have picked free DHL / Fedex tracking and would have just checked where it is. Don't worry they refund you $ so you are just out 2 weeks.

I did this, several times. "Just checking" where it is, from the order page, said China and DHL could not process the number they sent me. After placing my order, they supplied me with a DHL number and link, which did not work. It returned "Invalid number". I asked several times for correct tracking info and either got no response or the same message asking me to ensure I order the correct length of scale, weeks after they said it was shipped.

On a good note, I already have the refund (less $4, probably due to exchange rates). I will try again, perhaps with @David_R8 's supplier or Amazon or somewhere else. This company had good reviews so I felt good about them but, oh well, first world problems. 2 months ago, I did not even know I needed one!

Cheers,

 

[ShawnR]

Well, trying again. Will report back. Should know January 27.....lol...

 

[Hacker]

Sorry to hear about your experience, hopefully this one will work out. At least with AliExpress the refund process seems to work well. I have had similar experience with items coming from China. The shipping seems to very hit and miss. My DRO was here within two weeks but contactors took two months. Even items coming from the US are taking a long time. I am waiting on a DC controller that I bought off of EBay the second week in Dec.

 

[Tom Kitta]

Just try with a different vendor, this one was shady. I almost never use Amazon now as they cannot compete with aliexpress for 90% of the items. Why pay 12% or more markup when you don't have to.

 

[ShawnR]

Thanks @Hacker . And yes @Tom Kitta I have ordered already from a different vendor. So far, the communication already looks much better.

Regards,

Shawn

 

[ThirtyOneDriver]

Getting ready to go through the same process - this thread saved me from asking a bunch of questions.

Questions...
General - magnetic scales > glass scales... correct?

Lathe DRO - I have a Craftex CX709"x" - obviously I want a DRO that has x and y axis, likely also want one w/ the hall effect sensor (RPM) - is there any advantage to having a scale on the tool slide? When I was researching websites trying to figure out how to figure out what I wanted, I thought I came across a diagram explaining that you could stack the tool slide dimensions on top of the x or y dimension kind of like a sum equation in excel. True? Am I misunderstanding?

Mill DRO - I have a Craftex CX611(similar to @ShawnR's Seig X3 IIRC) - again, obviously I'd want at minimum a three axis DRO (x,y,z) - the quill moves separate from the z-axis; any drawback to buying a package w/ the additional scale (I believe the quill distance can be programmed to stack like the description above)?
I'm very interested in retrofitting this machine to CNC - anyone w/ any experience have lessons that they learned the hard way? Anything that I should avoid?
Mitigating factor: As previously mentioned, near-zero machine experience... when I got the milling machine, the first comment from the one machinist (tool and die maker) friend I have was about retrofitting to CNC (he had owned his own shop w/ 3 or 4 large CNC machines, felt they were more/less the size of an automotive bay each). The appeal of being able to "walk-away" from the machine and let it go through g-code partially unattended is VERY appealing... I enjoy designing parts from ideas and testing the parts (challenging my designs), but if I could afford to out source the work I would.
Research results: I've scoped out some places that I could get retrofit kits from ($700-1000 USD for ball screw based kits + electric components) and I've also came across a supplier that has my machine set up as a turn-key CNC unit for $5250 USD. I have a 1600 sq ft shop, so although I would need to create room for an additional machine I think it would be worth it. From an operations management perspective, I could easily "employ" the CNC machine for one or two months a year - if I were to pay someone a wage (minimum) to make those parts, the value would be $2500 CAD/$2000 USD... meaning the machine (sans tooling) would "pay for itself" in two years.
I bring the financial aspect forward because it's a default factor for most people - I'm not "special" or "wealthy" by any means... I wanted to race cars when I grew up and Dad (having been a racer) taught me to never count on a car coming home with you if it was unloaded off the trailer (that something could happen and the $$$ invested be a pile of junk w/in a blink of an eye) - with that being instilled from a child, I started purchasing houses at 22, worked a minimum of 3 jobs at any one time until I was 35 and don't have any debts (not paying anyone interest). I also haven't raced enough to wreck as many cars as I had planned... ... ...

$5250 USD (which by the time you get it home is really ~$8500 CAD landed) is a pretty decent chunk of change... my mill adventure started at replacing $1000 bench-top drill.

($5250 USD CNC milling machine source: https://heavymetalcnc.com/product/g0463-x3/)