Hello! Everything is new and unused. Unfortunately I had to move to an apartment right after buying all this so I didn’t get a chance to put it together. Here’s a list of the parts and their value:
Brand new to CNCs and looking to learn more. How complicated would this build be to put together for someone new? Are there decent instructions to follow? Also would this kit result in a complete CNC ready to start learning the software and playing?
The instructions are fairly detailed, and I believe anyone who is reasonably good at DIY building can do it. As a community, we try to be helpful. “Go read the instructions” is not a typical response to questions in the forum, although we might point out where you can find them.
There are plenty of people that I would not want building a CNC, but many of those I wouldn’t sit in an Ikea chair that they had assembled, y’know?
Thank you for your response yes I absolutely understand what you’re saying. I feel confident that with decent instructions I could put one together. Would this entire kit when finished give me a complete and ready to run machine or are there other pieces I would need to pick up to complete the build?
it is difficult to speak to the completeness of someone else’s kit. It looks complete enough, but you will still need to buy the steel tube for the rails and gantries, and of course you will need a table to build it on.
Best thing to do is start you a build thread when you get your parts and get ready to start your build. Then you can post up any questions you have along the way. Also good to post progress pics as well. And any of us that have built them can keep a look out for anything out of place as well.
One comment here is that although the Rambo is a very robust board and still has firmware available, it is no longer what we use for most new builds, which are SKR Pro 1.2 or better still the V1 Jackpot board. It also looks to have the Reprap LCD whereas most new builds with SKR/Marlin will use a BTT TFT35 touchscreen instead.
You can absolutely build up a working machine with the Rambo and RepRap LCD- but let this guide your(and anyone else’) assessment of the value of the offered kit.
You should also assess what 3D printer you have and how comfortable you are printing all of the required plastic parts, as I don’t see them listed in the kit.
That’s really based off personal opinion. But as someone who had 2 LR3’s and a Primo all running SKR Pros, when I swapped my first machine over to Jackpot just to try it out, the next week I ordered 2 more Jackpots and have all 3 running them now. To me its a way easier set up. I run my primo from lightburn on my computer, and the 2 LR3’s I run from a cheap amazon tablet Plus they are a LOT cheaper than the SKR/Screen combo
The SKR Pro is a perfectly serviceable board. It depends a bit on whether you’d lean toward Marlin or FluidNC.
I have both, and I prefer FluidNC, but sometimes it does feel a bit like you’re out on the edge and if you’d like to do something slightly different, documentation can be a bit more scarce. Takes a bit more hunting on occasion. But with the advent of the pendant work, and the webUI work, it’s definitely my preferred now.
Others probably have far more Marlin experience, but I just found it to take a bit more time and a bit more fiddly to set up a job. I probably only spent about 9-12 months on Marlin, so probably user error.
Well I’m just starting to learn about the MPCNC and the LR and I’m brand new to CNCs so I can be easily influenced by more experienced opinions especially when the cost is lower.
Personally cost alone it is worth it to go Jackpot over SKR
And if you aren’t already used to running marlin over FluidNC then that’s a no brainer to me. You will have to learn either. And FluidNC is pretty easy once you get in there
I have a Jackpot board, and a couple of SKR Pros. (One running a 3D printer)
The jackpot is considerably less expensive. It is set up to control a CNC machine primarily, and therefore does not have a lot of extra functions needed for a 3D printer to control heaters, read thermistors, and the like. the Jackpot via the ESP32 development board has wifi/bluetooth capabilities as-is, where the SKR Pro needs an add-on board (Which is actually super cheap) in order to gain these capabilities.
FluidNC was developed as a GRBL work-alike, which means that it is more suited to work as a CNC. the primary development was done for CNC work, so it is a little more streamlined for work that way. Marlin firmware has a primary user base in 3D printing, so the firmware is based there. We kind of lie to the firmware about some things like temperature sensors so that the firmware thinks that it has reasonable values, when in fact it has no real world inputs at all.
That is where the Jackpot beats the SKR Pro.
Both have 32 bit processing power, good floating point math libraries, and the capability of handling up to 6 motor drivers.
the capability to use a cheap LCD controller like the RepRap Discount 12864 is a plus on the SKR Pro. The TFT35E3 LCD is also possible with the SKR Pro at a higher cost. The Jackpot can use the M5 ased FluidDial local LCD, but this is more a project than product, and the components to build it are in smaller supply.
You can run jackpot from anything that has a web browser. You can also build a pendant if you only want to use local machine control without any other devices.
Jackpot / FluidNC with a pendant (and also SKR with Marlin / LCDs ) are able to run stand-alone.
They are both able to be run from a host controller. For example, if using LightBurn to run a laser with a Jackpot or an SKR, you usually hook up a PC or Mac over USB to the controller and run the machine that way.
If you don’t want to use a browser device to run your machine, then you should either prefer Marlin/LCD, or plan to build a pendant for FluidNC.
The kit above that is offered for sale does meet the LCD interface requirement, though with an older style of LCD (Non-touch screen) compared to what most people are now buying.
How you prefer to use the machine influences this- both approaches are viable and quite usable, in my opinion.
