How To Upgrade A Chinese CNC Machine

Looking to add a small CNC machine to your garage or hackerspace's arsenal of tools? Like any tools — China has you covered for the cheap options — but the question is, is it worth it? Typically it depends on the tool, but when you can upgrade your 3040 CNC router to use USB instead of a parallel port with the TinyG motion controller… most definitely!

The 3040 or 3020 CNC router is a popular Chinese machine used by many hobbyists — and for good reason. A rigid all-aluminum frame, decent stepper motors and pretty good resolution? It's not a bad deal for around $1000USD. We’ve covered it many times before. Problem is, the electronics are a bit out-dated. Particularly in the fact that it uses Mach3 with a parallel port… Come on, who has a parallel port these days?

[John Lauer] set out to fix this. The TinyG is a motor controller we’ve covered a few times before as well — it was just waiting to be fitted into a 3040 CNC in order to run a better control system, like ChiliPeppr!

In fact, [John] ordered the CNC machine just to do this upgrade — and he's sharing how he did it with everyone:

And while you’re at it, why not add spindle direction and coolant control to your 3040 CNC as well? Or how about learning how to machine foam, and then cast it into solid aluminum?