SainSmart, a brand I am familiar with in the maker tool space, launched a Kickstarter crowdsourcing campaign for their Genmitsu Cubiko CNC machine, and it looks to be the least expensive brand-name tool of its kind that I’ve seen.
At this time, it’s available for early bird pricing of $299, and is expected to have a retail price of $500.
I’m not encouraging anyone to back the Kickstarter campaign, but the Cubiko definitely at least still looks interesting enough to talk about.
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The Cubiko CNC weighs under 18 pounds and has an ER 11 spindle with 1/8″ collet as standard.
They list the machine power as 120W, and spindle wattage as 75W with a max spindle speed of 10,000 RPM.
8mm lead screws seem appropriate for the size. According to the spec sheet, precision is ± 0.1mm, or around ±0.004 inches.
The Cubiko has a work area of 5.91″ (X) x 4.33″ (Y) x 1.57″ (Z), and footprint of 11.81″ L x 13.19″ W x 12.52″ H.
Basically, this is a very small and light machine.
SainSmart says it can work with a variety of materials such as certain types of wood, non-ferrous metals, and acrylic.
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There will be a whole bunch of add-ons and accessories, such as a laser model (which might require fume extraction), drawing tool, dust shoe, and polishing head.
The Cubiko was “designed for PCB milling,” meaning engraving of PCBs for customized electronics projects.
It’s also described as a “CNC router” for tasks such as “carving of various materials, including wood and soft metals.”
The applications list gets a bit ambitious, with some of the Kickstarter images and animated clips showing it being used to polish scratches out of a smartphone screen.
What caught my attention, aside from the relatively low price, is that the Cubiko has an enclosed design for quiet operation and presumably dust control. It also has automatic Z axis probing for quicker setup.
It seems that the machine was designed for ease of use, which makes sense given its lower price point. This might be the first CNC experience for many users.
The Cubiko seems like a lightweight machine, but perhaps a well designed one. SainSmart has a decent reputation, and here’s what they say about their Genmitsu brand:
Genmitsu was born from the innovative spirit of SainSmart, a company with a long-standing commitment to empowering Makers. At Genmitsu, we’re a team of innovators, engineers, and creators who believe that CNC machining isn’t just for seasoned professionals—it’s for everyone. Our mission is to design tools that make this exciting technology approachable, reliable, and enjoyable, no matter your experience level.
The marketing for the machine seems fairly aligned with what I’d expect a CNC of this size might be capable of. Meaning, they don’t seem to be making too many exaggerations.
I wish they’d talk a bit about how long it would take to complete different cutting, carving, or engraving projects, but some of their video clips can help set accurate expectations.
Kickstarter can be risky. I’m not familiar with Genmitsu, but SainSmart seems to have a good track record.
I’m not willing to be an early adopter here, but I’ll follow the Cubiko’s progress with interest.
JR Ramos
SainSmart is a great outfit. Some years back I got one of their fantastic mini hotplates for reflowing LED emitters and small passives. Nothing else out there like it that I’ve seen and it has features that are greatly beneficial and not present on most other affordable simple hotplates.
https://www.sainsmart.com/products/miniware-60w-mini-hot-plate-preheater-soldering-station (don’t ever buy this without sale pricing or a coupon…)
I won’t do crowd-funded projects. Seen toooo many people get screwed over and left holding the bag and not every platform has protections for those donated funds. I figure if a project or “company” has a good enough product, it’s not terribly difficult to find funding to get it into production and market it, especially these days. Strange how this avenue has become such a trend despite an awful lot of failures to launch and other disappointments. But that said, there are some well-off smaller companies that have no business fooling around with crowd funding but are doing so anyway (a few flashlight manufacturers come to mind).
Bob
I’m running a Sainsmart machine, an upgraded 4040 Pro that is now 60×40. They are good machines but this one I probably wouldn’t go for because of a couple of reasons. It’s not due to the cost or using kickstarter to pay for it. It’s cheap enough and I don’t think you will have issues getting your machine.
It’s just too small to be of much use and what most people dont consider getting into this hobby is that the software will cost more than the machine in short order if you want to do more than 2d cuts. Ideally this machine might be good for making printed circuit boards or very small projects. For most other people, it would probably be too limiting in the long term.
MM
At first I was going to criticize this machine quite heavily. In my opinion (and experience) there is no substitute for mass in a machine tool, and a “lightweight milling machine” makes about as much practical sense as a perforated bucket.
However, I look at it a lot like low-end 3D printers. Yes, their capabilities are obviously going to be very limited, and it’s not suitable for commercial production purposes, but it’s still useful for education and hobby projects where speed and cut quality aren’t very important. These would be great for schools since they are cheap enough that every student could have their own.
Jared
That’s what I was thinking too. This is cheap enough to basically be treated as a hobby toy. I could see buying it to learn about CNC rather than to accomplish any particular task.
MM
Yeah, exactly. Though it probably would be good enough for a lot of simple hobby projects. When I was a teenager I was into R/C models. I’d have loved to have had something like this at the time. It would have been fantastic for making small parts out of plastic, fiberglass, or carbon fiber sheet and since it’s for fun it doesn’t matter if it’s slow.
William Adams
I would not want to see anyone using such a machine to cut carbon fiber w/o HEPA dust collection or in a water bath (with suitable disposal of the slurry)
Eric
I can see it being useful for hobby and crafting jobs. Making little brackets, engraving plaques, etc. But I question it’s use in schools. To be in schools it needs to be durable and reliable.So maybe it could be considered in a couple of years if it proves to a solid machine. If these turn out to be like early cheap 3d printers that constantly need something done to them it would be a nightmare for the teacher.
Julius Rosen
Way too expensive for a hobbyist how are there were many other Chinese machines for $100 to $200 and at $ 500 you can get something much bigger
Jared
Where can I find a $100 Chinese CNC?
Eric
Google, there are several that pop up,if you search for cheap cnc machine. They don’t have screens or enclosures, but they do have a bigger working area.
Bonnie
They’re all over AliExpress, search for any of the “3018” models. The first result is $125.
Also SainSmart’s stuff is all Chinese anyways.
MKY
Stuart –
“ At this time, it’s available for early bird pricing ***if*** $299”
….” and ***her’s*** what they say about their Genmitsu brand….”
Stuart
Thanks, *fixed*!
Hk
I’m a backer. I want is specifically for making coasters out of wood. I 3D print and laser engrave various coasters, but carved wood ones sound appealing. Is it the right machine for me? Idk. To be honest, I’ve never really looked into CNC before. But it’s small, it’s relatively cheap, and I hope it works.
AD
Looks like a weird 3018 CNC(same z-axis, and x-axis) , but with a smaller work area, good enclosure/frame, better work fixturing table, and maybe slightly improved electronics?
If its anything like a 3018 CNC, its basically only good for plastic and wood.
Seems over priced, and unlike a 3018, which is easy to modify because of the aluminum extrusions used, this looks much less mod friendly.
Bob
This machine isn’t like a 3d printer where they give you the software (slicer) or laser engraver that is cheap for a license (lightburn). You will end up spending a minimum of 150 current pricing on Vectric 2d or a subscription license for carveco. There is really no good free software to use. Ask me how I know.
William Adams
Which free software have you tried?
(ob. discl., I work for Carbide 3D)
FWIW, my first project on my SO3 had me using:
– Inkscape to do vector conversions
– Fontforge to make a font
– F-engrave for V-carving
– MakerCAM to CAM
https://community.carbide3d.com/t/locking-register-calipers-after-h-o-studley/658
These days, free/opensource things which seem worth trying:
– Solvespace
– Dune3D
– FreeCAD (and its Path/CAM workbench)
– Kiri:Moto