Xzero CNC setups, what you running?

CroweCues

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I checked out the Xzero CNC website and although they allow for options, they dont really go into detail on what comes with the machines standard, etc, etc. So i figured i would ask and see here, what are you running, and why? was your upgrade worth it to you on one part or another? If you had to buy it again, what would you change?
 
I checked out the Xzero CNC website and although they allow for options, they dont really go into detail on what comes with the machines standard, etc, etc. So i figured i would ask and see here, what are you running, and why? was your upgrade worth it to you on one part or another? If you had to buy it again, what would you change?

On the Predator, I got every upgrade. Bought cable chain as well. No electronics.

Mini Raptor, I bought the complete package with mx4660 and all the upgrades.

If I could have afforded it, I would have purchased a full size Raptor.

Machines come with all the mechanicals, but something is always missing. George is quick about handling it, but it is irritating. I know a half dozen guys who have purchased machines and each was missing something.

Assembling the machines can be done in a day and is pretty straight forward....normally. If you don't attach the couplers to the screws before you assemble, expect to take the machine apart as they can't be tightened afterward. Table tops now have holes machined, so you don't have to spend an entire day machining those.

The mx4660 and steppers are easy, as is the power supply. If you just want to throw it all together and go the cheap route you can. Cable chain, molex connectors..ect all add time and cost, but give peace of mind and extra pride. As of right now, you will have to make brackets to mount the chain on the machine. George is talking about laser cutting some. Depending on your spindle, you may have to make a plate for that as well.
 
On the Predator, I got every upgrade. Bought cable chain as well. No electronics.

Mini Raptor, I bought the complete package with mx4660 and all the upgrades.

If I could have afforded it, I would have purchased a full size Raptor.

Machines come with all the mechanicals, but something is always missing. George is quick about handling it, but it is irritating. I know a half dozen guys who have purchased machines and each was missing something.

Assembling the machines can be done in a day and is pretty straight forward....normally. If you don't attach the couplers to the screws before you assemble, expect to take the machine apart as they can't be tightened afterward. Table tops now have holes machined, so you don't have to spend an entire day machining those.

The mx4660 and steppers are easy, as is the power supply. If you just want to throw it all together and go the cheap route you can. Cable chain, molex connectors..ect all add time and cost, but give peace of mind and extra pride. As of right now, you will have to make brackets to mount the chain on the machine. George is talking about laser cutting some. Depending on your spindle, you may have to make a plate for that as well.

Thanks for the tips. Good to know the tables come with holes now. Pretty sure i seen you had to deal with that issue? I'm going to email them and ask about the router mounts, am i to assume to does not come with something to actually cut with? lol I know there are more than a few cue makers here using these setups, yourself included, so i know they work. But the lack of information on their website is leaving me a bit frustrated.
 
Machines come with all the mechanicals, but something is always missing. George is quick about handling it, but it is irritating. I know a half dozen guys who have purchased machines and each was missing something.

Including me, and I know another 1/2 dozen guys myself. He said if I drive up to pick it up in f&*%ing Canada, he'd have the machine assembled. I drove up, and he gave me a pile of parts and a random box of screws. And yeah, it was missing parts, some of the ball screws were screwed up, etc. It took about 6 months to finally get it running.

George is a nice guy, and the machine itself is very high quality, but he's a complete scatterbrain. If you have some patience, go for it because you won't find a better machine anywhere for the money. If you're in a serious rush, don't be the "It won't happen to me" guy because unless something's changed radically in the last year or two, it's gonna happen to you too. :) If I wasn't in a rush, I would probably buy one again because it really is an excellent machine.

I was running mine with a KFlop/KStep controller I tossed together. It was a great combination. KMotion is a bit lacking in features and if I had to do it again I would probably fool around with running the KFlop controller from Mach3.

Do yourselves a favor: Most of the cabling that you buy is not designed to be flexed over and over. If you loose a stepper, it's not a big deal other than the annoyance and possibly a damaged part. But you really don't want a 3HP spindle cable to start shorting out, possibly damaging your VFD and setting up a dangerous situation. Buy flex rated cable. I used cable from www.igus.com, simply because I come from an automation background and I've been using Igus for 20 years. I got mine shielded to help cut down on the noise. Careful of ground loops. :)
 
Last edited:
Including me, and I know another 1/2 dozen guys myself. He said if I drive up to pick it up in f&*%ing Canada, he'd have the machine assembled. I drove up, and he gave me a pile of parts and a random box of screws. And yeah, it was missing parts, some of the ball screws were screwed up, etc. It took about 6 months to finally get it running.

George is a nice guy, and the machine itself is very high quality, but he's a complete scatterbrain. If you have some patience, go for it because you won't find a better machine anywhere for the money. If you're in a serious rush, don't be the "It won't happen to me" guy because unless something's changed radically in the last year or two, it's gonna happen to you too. :) If I wasn't in a rush, I would probably buy one again because it really is an excellent machine.

I was running mine with a KFlop/KStep controller I tossed together. It was a great combination. KMotion is a bit lacking in features and if I had to do it again I would probably fool around with running the KFlop controller from Mach3.

Do yourselves a favor: Most of the cabling that you buy is not designed to be flexed over and over. If you loose a stepper, it's not a big deal other than the annoyance and possibly a damaged part. But you really don't want a 3HP spindle cable to start shorting out, possibly damaging your VFD and setting up a dangerous situation. Buy flex rated cable. I used cable from www.igus.com, simply because I come from an automation background and I've been using Igus for 20 years. I got mine shielded to help cut down on the noise. Careful of ground loops. :)

Where were you when I was spending hours trying to find flex cable for less than 2.00 a foot???

As far as things missing and other issues, some are bigger problems than others. A few guys have just been missing fasteners or rail bolt plugs. My mini came with 2 x brackets and no Z. The end supports that hold the bearings, which are supposed to be slip fit, weren't machined to the correct tolerances and had to be replaced. This could be an issue for someone who presses them in because, while I did press them in while waiting for replacements, the interference ruined one of the bearings.
 
Last edited:
Unrelated but there is now knockoff energy chain on Amazon for about $10 for 3'.

fair warning....buy a cheap substitute and you will hate yourself. Low quality cable carriers really really suck. If your lucky enough to get them snapped apart and back together without them breaking, then there still loud as hell when in operation. Good igus can be had all day every day on ebay for short money.
 
fair warning....buy a cheap substitute and you will hate yourself. Low quality cable carriers really really suck. If your lucky enough to get them snapped apart and back together without them breaking, then there still loud as hell when in operation. Good igus can be had all day every day on ebay for short money.

^^^^^ What he says ^^^^^
 
in the photos, it shows the machine comes with a cable carrier. as for cables, i checked out Igus, But im guessing until i see the machine itself im not going to know what cables to get/replace, what lengths, etc. I really wish the website showed more details. Im not in a hurry by any means, im trying to make sure i have my list and everything together for when the shop is done early next year and dont want to try and do it all in one day. ya know.
 
Just sent them an email, so hoping to see what extra information im going to get from them lol. Feel free to post photos of your machines, i know that will help me in the long run as well.

There is a lot more to getting these machines together than i thought given the price, it really surprised me.
 
well, sadly George no longer has the Raptor 24s. He only does the 30s and mini 18s. hmmmmmmm
 
well, sadly George no longer has the Raptor 24s. He only does the 30s and mini 18s. hmmmmmmm

you say sadly, but its possibly a blessing. Minimal amount of machines means less parts to manage. Since George has proven managing much of anything is difficult for him then i'd say all can only benefit from less machines.

Go George!
 
in the photos, it shows the machine comes with a cable carrier. as for cables, i checked out Igus, But im guessing until i see the machine itself im not going to know what cables to get/replace, what lengths, etc. I really wish the website showed more details. Im not in a hurry by any means, im trying to make sure i have my list and everything together for when the shop is done early next year and dont want to try and do it all in one day. ya know.

Cable carrier is NOT usually included. Don't go by the pics. You can call George and ask him about it all.
 
I was saying it in more regards to the size no longer being offered. If the mini 18 has the travel to do inlays then i dont see an issue with having the smaller one, if not, well...... dam lol
 
I was saying it in more regards to the size no longer being offered. If the mini 18 has the travel to do inlays then i dont see an issue with having the smaller one, if not, well...... dam lol

If you have the space, go bigger, even if you don't need the travel. You will thank me the first time you setup two or three different stations and don't have to keep taking it apart to make room for another setup. Definitely call George and a get real working envelope for the machine. These gantry style machines have significantly less work envelope than you might think in the long direction because of how things are mounted. Across the gantry isn't as limiting, though it will still be less.
 
If you have the space, go bigger, even if you don't need the travel. You will thank me the first time you setup two or three different stations and don't have to keep taking it apart to make room for another setup. Definitely call George and a get real working envelope for the machine. These gantry style machines have significantly less work envelope than you might think in the long direction because of how things are mounted. Across the gantry isn't as limiting, though it will still be less.

i never really thought about it that way. thanks. makes more since to be able to set up dedicated things like that. :thumbup:
 
I checked out the Xzero CNC website and although they allow for options, they dont really go into detail on what comes with the machines standard, etc, etc. So i figured i would ask and see here, what are you running, and why? was your upgrade worth it to you on one part or another? If you had to buy it again, what would you change?

The Raptor machines as of this time till new site is up. Comes with Cable chain ,prox switches and backing bars. Because of low Canadian dollar they were just added instead of changing pricing. But dollar is on a fast rise back so added on new site

Table tops are machined, when they were not machined was when the machines used the 8020 profiles. The profiles would make top flex up or down. Profiles had to much twist . Now having custom precision made profiles the top fits like it should if put together right .

Machines are now per boxed from boxing company . Size will be limited to one or two size. Raptor 30 will be 30x36 and 30x48 only. Mini Raptor 18x36 and 18x48. Ballcrew and spinlde mount are the only option. Motor kit only one size of motors .

Raptor 24 was the most popular before mini Raptor. After that it was not asked about much as why not selling them no more. Selling 1 to 3 machines a day cant have stuff just sitting around .

As for missing parts, company’s are now responsible for sending parts they have missed because everything is now drop shipped . Coupling have turned out to be a problem, so one motor is only size available.

Now moving back into large machine, most likely Raptors will only come in one size only once stock of profiles are used up .

As of Raptor 24, i do have one left. Have been holding it for someone for 3 months and cant hold it no more .
 
fair warning....buy a cheap substitute and you will hate yourself. Low quality cable carriers really really suck. If your lucky enough to get them snapped apart and back together without them breaking, then there still loud as hell when in operation. Good igus can be had all day every day on ebay for short money.

That is true, but people wont pay for it or even see why to pay extra price. They see picture and it looks the same .

I used Igus Chain and wire before when i started. People would say crazy prices and they can get chain of ebay or run machine with cheap wire . Use non flex or even not shielded. But those wires will cause problems very fast and you will spend weeks trying to see why and they blame motors, drivers. But 99.9% problem has always been wiring
 
That is true, but people wont pay for it or even see why to pay extra price. They see picture and it looks the same .

I used Igus Chain and wire before when i started. People would say crazy prices and they can get chain of ebay or run machine with cheap wire . Use non flex or even not shielded. But those wires will cause problems very fast and you will spend weeks trying to see why and they blame motors, drivers. But 99.9% problem has always been wiring

Good to see you, George! You know, Andy's got my machine now. :) Had to sell it when the twins came and go back to hand work until they're a bit older. I'll have my hands on another one of your machines once the kids are. I miss having it in my shop. Once it's up and running, I'm pretty sure your machines are about the stiffest for the money.

Also nice to see some of the problems with the old machines getting fixed. I never really liked the 80/20. Nothing wrong with it, but nothing was flat and setup was a pain in the butt.

Yeah, all of the stupid motor kits come with regular wiring, but I wouldn't compromise on the spindle. I figured I'd upgrade the motors wires one by one as they fail.
 
Back
Top