Frage Stepcraft is an "unbaked product" and i hate it

Bought the Stepcraft 420.

Went to the factory in Germany to pick it up.

Nobody explains what exactly one needs to control this machine.

Its supplied with a useless usb module which connects to a useless non Gcode software.

After assembling the machine most of the axis where got stuck.

The only advice from Stepcraft was to disassemble and reassemble this machine.

I had it for 5 months now and didnt manage to cnc one single thing.

This product is useless. If u are considering buying a Stepcraft - STAY AWAY!

Lost more than 2K$ for this defective product.

I lost hope.

Here are lots of results made with this "useless product" by lots of users who love their Stepcraft...

I guess u have to German to operate it. Or to read IMPORTANT information about it.

Also. Try emailing Stepcraft for help in English. Disaster.

And this said after seeing all those photos of about 15 people who made this useless product operate.

Seems you are really not happy.
Do you want to sell the machine??

Watch what's Possible with sc
Nice Christmas gifts

PM if you want to buy it!

I saw your work on the German thread. Very nice.

Unfortunately, most ordinary people cannot assemble and operate it.

I struggled with this machine too long now, i wish i got a BTZ CNC instead.

Please make a price and show pictures of the stepii

Did you buy the construction kit or the ready to run machine?

Obviously he bought the DIY kit.
Well, there are hundreds of examples that this machine is not crap. Yes, you can find those people right here.

If you give just a few more informations, I am quite sure you will find a lot of guys who would try to help you.

The hint from Stepcraft to disassemble and re built the machine is not wrong. Use the example videos you find at YouTube as a help and do it slow and carefully.

Maybe you are NOT the right one to assemble and operate this machine. Maybe you will have the success you supposed to have with the Stepcraft with a BTZ.

Therefore my proposal: send me a PN offering your machine for a fair and reasonable price, disassemble the machine and I will buy it.

wbr Michael

Ah .. found the other thread.

About the initial statement in the headline:
There are always 2 sides. From perspective of your Steppi, you are an "unbaked mechanic". Propably it would be happy to escape from you.

I can understand your frustration, but blaming stepcraft simply means shifting the blame and does not help. If you are totally untalented you should have bought the ready to run version, which I expect to be cheaper than the BTZ.

But in the end BTZ needs the same maintenance and can fail after months/years of operation. What do you do then?

Maybe you live close to another SC user who can help? Maybe you have a hackerspace close to you? There is no option, you have to learn the basics. Well at least if you come over the blaming phase.

it would be nice to get him his machine working.
Maybe there is some glue in the stepper motor bearings .



he sells only together with hf500

hello Michael
30% off with hf500 was his price (PN)

BVS - Thank you for being a good sales person.

alpenkreuzer - Can the "wrong person" get a refund from Stepcraft or he lost 2k$?

Magio2 - I wish I could read German and have some access to all the useful information in the German part of the forum. Bcz for English there is hardly any help.

I bought this machine to help me with my electronics projects. I Diy a lot. never did a CNC machine but did a lot of projects. I believe that selling this machine as a "turn key" product is not in par with reality. I am also disappointing from the fact i need to take it apart and reassemble it without even knowing whats wrong with it.

orenhag schrieb: Magio2 - I wish I could read German and have some access to all the useful information in the German part of the forum. Bcz for English there is hardly any help.

Hi orenhag - welcome to the forum!

whats about to make a solid deal:

Let the freaks here help you to get your machine up and running and your payback would be to take care of the forum user in the english speaking section ...

Belief me - you will learn a lot on your journey to a functional cnc machine and other user are more than happy to got one or two hints from a fellow countryman with hand on experience!

BTW: What is the meaning of: Two birds with one stone ...

Two birds with one stone -> Zwei Fliegen mit einer Klappe erschlagen.

@Orenhag: We would really love to help, but we really need a few more informations.
Maybe you can make a video? I strongly believe your problems are a result of misalignment during the setup of the unit. A mechanical reassembly could help.

BR
Roy

Roy - Thank you. Youre a light an the end of a tunnel with stepcraft complete lack of english support.

I just dont get this alignment issue. I get it mechanically but i dont get the design notion behind it. why design the machine like that?

More than half of the people here need to un tight screws to make it run. Some people here wrote they filed layers of paint to gain extra mm. Also, the alignment of the axis as seen in the videos looks like "mambo jambo" (although i did it all meticulously).

I realize its all about fiddling with this machine. Until everything will fall into place and at best I'll get a high maintenance short lifetime machine. Just a bummer imo. Something i thought would be avoided by buying a German brand and not Chinese.

I'll prob continue to disassemble and reassemble it. I'll do my best to keep screws good and hope ill eventually CNC something. Prob around 2027.

Hi there.

I understand your frustration here and I feel some of it myself. Stepcraft should provide detailed instructions on the sensitivities of these machines and how best to alleviate them (a systematic alignment troubleshooting guide if you like). Too many customers, particularly of the larger footprint machines have (reasonable) expectations that meticulous adherence to the build instructions will yield a fully functioning and properly tuned machine when this is not the case. In this respect it is a bit 'unbaked', as you put it.

I would like to suggest a couple of key tips for axis alignment:

1. Some free play in the bearing seat(s), especially at the non driven end is actually helpful. The track roller and extrusion provide the alignment, the lead screw & ball nut assembly provide the linear drive. The two functions are not fully mutually inclusive A number of users have facilitated this by removing some powder coat from the bearing seat as you acknowledge.

2. Once there is sufficient free play in the lead screw(s), align it/them by loosening the end plate or gantry, drive the track rollers/gantry to one end, align each (in the case of Y axis) then tighten up the end plate screws. This process acts to self-align the assembly.

Going forward, I will also be reducing the full travel speed from 3,000 to 2,000 mm/min. My hardwood cut speed is 1,500 mm/min. At this speed, very fine dust is produced rather tham chips indicating that there would scope to increase speed on a more robust platform.

A surprising issue I noticed recently was resistance in the X stepper motor (when it was de-energised of holding torque, obviously). Exercising it by hand freed it off so I can only presume that some glue was fouling the rotation.

I hope this helps.

Doug

Today, in addition to enlarging the size of the bearing rebates in the front plate, I have also had to substantially enlarge the size of the screw mounting holes in the front plate to avoid it misaligning the extrusions when the mounting screws are tightened. Now the front plate is tightened, both lead screws turn easily by hand. You might want to look at this aspect too.

Doug

I agree it's a damnably unbaked product and I hate it too! I bought one 600 from StoneyCNC in kit form and it was a Triumph des Willens to get it assembled and running! However, thanks mostly to the good humour and patience on Rory Stoney's part, I'm pleased to say my Clockwork Orange runs accurately and with no snags.

Look, I'm not being dismissive, I know well it IS a major frustration. There are a number of competent people in this forum and I'm definitely not one of them, so I have full authority of the worst kind

Please take a few deep breaths, pick up that irritating assembly manual and retrace every single step. Be ready to dismantling anything you are not sure of and reassemble. That helps, and please don't ask how I found out, it's too embarrassing. When in doubt, please put your queries here if possible with a photo or two, I'm sure you'll find somebody willing and able to answer and in good old English to boot (I'm not a native speaker) I'm sure those German staff will be unable to efficiently take care of you as they'll likely be busy inventing new glitches not documented here yet

I initially bought the barebones model, and I'm adding the 4th axis and will add more upgrades as the need comes, that's how confidant I've become.

Well ... looks like you learned a lot. Next you can buy a car construction kit from your favourite german car brand.