Now that I have had my hands on the Genmitsu 3018-PROVer V2 for about a year now, I find myself asking if this machine that is supposed to be, "whether you're a CNC beginner, a hobbyist or a small business owner looking for an enterprise quality for commercial purposes, this is an excellent choice." - Sainsmart
So, is it really all that it's cracked up to be? I will talk about price, availability, resources, and required/available software. First, I want to point out that this is not a knock on Sainsmart. In fact, the customer service and documentation has been great and more than one might expect or hope for.
Price
When looking for an entry-level machine, I set a limit of ~$400.00 USD all-in. Any higher than that would place it out of reach for most beginners wanting to get started, in my opinion. My decision for that price point came because of how much video game consoles costs these days. I figure a CNC is MUCH more useful. At the time, I purchased my PROVer for $372.56 total from Amazon, which included the offline controller. Today, I believe you can find it for under $300.
Availability
The 3018 seem to be sold under many different brands and therefore, I felt that the availability for replacement and compatible parts would be high. And I am glad that I was right. Replacement parts are inexpensive, and the availability of stock is always there.
Another area of availability are 1st-party upgrades and add-ons. Again, the 3018 does not disappoint. Add-ons include:
One additional item that IS NOT "compatible," but can be made to work is a brushless spindle. The great thing about all the additional accessories, is that they are not necessary to simply start carving signs and other small projects, but they are available at a reasonable price.
Resources for Setup, Learning, etc.
This model and similar have been out for a while now and has awesome first and third-party resources from documentation to videos to help you get started and see additional reviews, tutorials and examples others are doing with their 3018. Sainsmart, for themselves, has a resource page dedicated to the PROVer V2 that includes software, firmware, how-to's, example code, and illustrated manuals for setup and even charts for selecting bits for the machine based on the application.
As mentioned earlier, the support is top-notch. I have spoken with them over chat and the phone and have never had any problems with responses and/or solutions. The staff there are friendly and courteous in their communications.
Required & Available Software
This is probably the only negative thing I have to say about entry-level wood CNC machines. It seems that most of the machines I research do not have any "good" free or reasonable priced software for that novice wanting to try out machines at this price point. Very disappointing to be sure.
Now, Sainsmart, like others provide a GRBL software called Candle for free (more about that later). On the resource page you will also find mention and links for the following software:
Fusion 3D by Autodesk (free personal use for 3 years, then unless you are a student, plan on forking out the $$$. Plus basic 3D modeling know-how required.
Carveco Maker (12-month subscription) $180.00 USD - Not bad if you are willing to always pay >$10/month to run your $400 machine.
Easel Pro (Monthly/Yearly subscription) $24.00 + tax/$233 + tax after 30-day trial - In my opinion, this is the absolute BEST software to use, but if you're wanting to get your feet wet in CNC woodworking only, it is a little excessive in cost for the non-hobbyist. If I owned a business, this would be a no-brainer.
Lightburn (for use with the laser module) - At $75 one-time lifetime cost, this software is amazing and an industry standard. However, by the time you buy the underpowered 5.5W module and license for Lightburn, you are looking approaching $700 or greater. And if you are spending that much, might as well get a decent dedicated laser CNC for about the same or slightly less.
Final Thoughts
Unless you are 100% certain that you will like using a wood CNC, most of the less expensive machines out there are actually pretty expensive, especially for an entry-level user. Be prepared to either pony up the cash for a descent software that is intuitive, or the time needed to learn less than easy-to-understand software. Barring all of that, the 3018 is a pretty good little machine.
Indeed, the fatal flaw of the CNC machines out there is the software availability making most of the lower-priced models inaccessible to beginners and hobbyists, in my opinion.
Below is a screenshot of the GBRL Candle software for Windows
