Product Tour #1: 3 Axis Mini DIY CNC Engraver

Welcome to the first installment of a Product Tour series where the goal is to introduce a product and answer the simple question “does it do what it is advertised to do?” I’m not going to go say if you should or shouldn’t buy it. I just want to present the information for education purposes and let you make a decision if it interest you. Note: I did not receive any money to write this or make the video and I have nothing to gain or lose if you do or do not buy the product. 


What is it?

This machine is an inexpensive Chinese 3 Axis Mini DIY CNC Engraver from the website banggood.com. Seriously, that’s the name of the website where it came from. The highest I’ve seen it for sale has been for $259. At the time of publishing this article it is being sold for $177.90 USD. At the end of this article you can enter to win one of these machines. Here is the direct link to the product: https://ban.ggood.vip/g3n

Quick Specs:

  • Control Software: GRBL
  • Engrave Wood, Plastic, Acrylic, PCB, or Similar Material.
  • Power Supply: DC 12V 5A
  • Rated Power: 60W
  • Shank Diameter 3.175mm
  • Processing Accuracy 0.08mm~0.1mm
  • Positioning Accuracy 0.04mm
  • Working Area Approx. 240x170x65mm
  • Machine Size Approx. 430x430x330mm

Assembly

Assembly took longer than expected. About 5 hours total. Most of the instructions are in Chinese but the images are pretty self explanatory. The hardware pack seems to be a universal pack as we had quite a few pieces left over. Nothing difficult to do, just a little time consuming.

Software

Getting the correct drivers and the software setup took several hours due to, again, most of it being in Chinese. We got the machine to run from both GRBL Controler and CNCC. We couldn’t get gcode from MakerCam to run properly but gcode from Easel.com worked without any problems.

Conclusion

Does it do what it is advertised to do? Yes……if you approach it with the mindset of this being a desktop engraver it does what it is advertised to do. I had Jeremy do as much of the work as possible with this machine as he had zero CNC experience going into it. He was able to assemble the machine, learn the software, and complete a few successful pieces in less than two days. That gives a good benchmark for someone else with no experience who might be interested. Here are some of his examples.

Giveaway

I asked for a second machine to be sent to me to give to my audience. So if you’re interested in winning this machine simply sign up for my email newsletter below to enter. If you’re already on my newsletter list sign up again to enter. You won’t receive duplicate emails. Unfortunately, I’m going to make this a USA only giveaway because of the weight of the machine. I just checked on a shipping price to the UK and it was $120 which simply doesn’t make much sense for a small giveaway like this. I’ll randomly select a winner in two weeks which is on August 17th.

UPDATE: The giveaway has ended and the randomly selected winner is Jesse Gross. Thanks for all of those who participated and keep an eye out for the next one :)

21 COMMENTS

  1. Thanks for the review, nice to get a real review and not one that was bought by a brand. What ever happened to the sticker cabinet updates?

  2. Have followed you for several years. Built your version of the air filter cart and love it. Thanks for ongoing great content.

  3. I have looked at these in the past and could never tell from their descriptions anything about them. This was a good production information guide. Now I know that it probably would not do much in my shop. So that meant you did me a great service. Thank you.

  4. Thanks, Jay, I think your new Product Tour series is a great idea. It’s good to get a review from a known entity, instead of from a bunch of people who you don’t know and have no idea of their qualifications or experience.
    The CNC engraver doesn’t really serve a purpose in my shop, but it is always good to know about new products. Knowledge is always a good thing.
    Perhaps you could do a product tour of several small items lumped together. For example, the Kreg Accucut circle saw guide, along with some similar items. Reviews on Amazon or other sites seem to be so varied as to be almost useless.
    Thanks again.

  5. Hi Jay, love your channel. Was introduced to it by a friend a couple years ago. Thank you, for putting out knowledge filled videos for anyone to understand.

  6. I really think this type of video is going to be a big hit. I have been mulling over CNC for quite some time now this might just push me over the edge. Thanks

  7. Hey jay

    Since, this is a ‘banggood’ product isn’t possible to make the give away world wide?

    Cheers
    Flo

    • They sent me two units. Jeremy took the assembled one and I have one unopened in a box in my shop. I’m paying out of pocket to send it out so I’m restricting it to to USA only. Sorry. It just makes the best sense that way.

  8. Another great video. Thank you for these video because of you I have been able to step my wood workin game up. I learn something new every time.

  9. Jay – any chance, do you know of other competitive small engravers that would compare to this one? Maybe with easier setup / assembly?

Comments are closed.