Bantam CNC Desktop Milling Machine Review & Machining Parts!

This machine is garbage. No ball screws, no linear rails. Under powered spindle. Will it make parts? Yes, it will. Will it make parts accurately and consistently? Absolutely not. X Y and Z on lead screws, means 3 dimensions of backlash. Plus, a spindle drive belt? Not powerful enough to mill steels. Save your money and get a more competent machine. I can recommend the Foxalien Vasto Cnc with Linear Rails & Ballscrews. Has 3 sizes of spindle mounts and is quite capable of machining steels with a vfd spindle upgrade. All within the price range of this machine.

what controller is used? does it include a manual and tutorial guide in operating the controller?

is the spindle custom made or is that sort of thing something that could be a good purchase for a diy machine? I could see the bldc motor with an esc being easier to control with simple machines

A tool that requires a subscription seems to be just a money drain. Tools should be self sufficient and not require an annual payment to maintain its use.

Thanks for the video Where did you learn how to do all this it’s amazing I really want to learn but don’t know where to start

I want to see what a Shearhog can do in it! NYCNC has set the bar high in regards to Shearhogs!!

You look alone, certainly no one within six feet. Why are you wearing a mask? It's a video, you're certainly in control of your environment. Sending a message are you?

Whare did buy this

Price this machine

4000$ 😂

at the end of the video, they state that they borrowed the machine - however you want to interpret that.

Can you post links to the fixture and vises used?

hope you make a giveaway. haha

I would not think that a serious CNC channel would say a machine with RC motor as a spindle could be any good.

I have been using mine almost daily. The support from Bantam has been great. I had some issues with programming since I am a 100% beginner. I've never touched a CNC machine and have done just a few things on a 3D printer. I will only comment on what I've noticed about the machine good and bad since this is an honest review. For the bad first.
1) The motor doesn't have enough torque. You have to reduce the stepdown and step over to keep it from bogging down.
It will seize up on you and shut your mill down if you push it too hard.

2) Sometimes it will freeze and you have to restart it. ( This doesn't happen a lot, but it happens ).
3) It's pretty expensive and it took forever to get it, but I was patient and Bantam was always giving me updates.

Now for the good.
1) Customer service ( as a business owner myself this is always my number 1 concern)
Bantam has always helped me when I needed it no matter what. They have some pretty smart and helpful people over there and that makes the negatives not so hard to take.
2) The machine is very sturdy for a desktop. It's well built in my opinion.
3) The probing routines are easy to figure out as a beginner and I absolutely love the engraving feature in the software!!!
4) it's easy to clean.
5) The fixturing upgrades are always a good thing and Bantam has plenty of options.


The one thing that I wished this had would be a bigger spindle motor that could work more aggressively to machine some deeper cuts. I used my router with a carbide blade to smooth out an aluminum plate 3/4" thick and it cut through it with ease. That's when I realized this motor was too small .

For the most part, I am very happy with my purchase and I hope that Bantam will offer a kit that will replace their spindle motor with something a bit beefier. They continue to do revisions on their software to get the bugs out and I understand that as well... Is there better mills out there? Sure, it's all how much you want to pay for them. Would I do it all over again? Absolutely! I've had a very good experience learning and Bantam has plenty of educational material you can access.
I don't know who any of these people are because I am a beginner in this, but I do know that I have been happy for the most part with this machine. I hope this helps others that are looking for them a desktop CNC machine.

Nope. Very, very overpriced. The software being "very I phone like" is a very bad sign.

I appreciate this review as it shows the machine doing what it can do. I followed the various links the others shared, and found machines that either cost more, or do less (or aren't even available). So in terms of a machine you can buy at this price and start using, there doesn't seem to be any competition. I wonder how much of the hate on this machine is actually hate on Bre.

Sponsored video or not?

Watch the tear down video for this. it is a pile of trash and just puts a pretty paint job on a basic grbl powered 1/4hp router.

Junk.

Used to think you put out good content. Now you've lost my trust. Unsubscribing/following.

Who can give me the 3D for the bottle oppener???

The machine and software actually don't look too bad. But Bre Pettis! We will never forgive him for turning on the Open Source community!

I was wondering how someone could come up with a machine twice the price and half the performance of hobby machines today and have someone semi reputable like nyccnc shill for them... then I heard the name Bre Pettis. Well that solves that. Skip.

You channel is awesome. I hope someday we will see Weber Metals Tour, 60k press is awesome)

Those don't look like ball screws to me.

Enjoy making bowls I guess as thats the only thing this piece of crap will be making with unsupported round crap bearings all around.
The thing that probably costs them money on this machine is the stupid time they spent machining their frame that does absolutely nothing to the rigidity.
Buy an old machine instead... Or buy your own stuff and save 3000 monopoly cash.

Mr Saunders, would you personally recommend this machine?

When he said "This machine is beeeefy" I was done with the review.
I like the channel, but promoting obvious rubbish like this does not reflect well.
If you have to timelaps every tiny operation because this toy removes less material than a hand file and still produces a horrible finish ... erm, yeah.

Whatever the asking price for a machine like this is, it's wasted money.
Print your parts, test fit them, and then have them properly milled at a local machine shop.

Cool little machine :)

Paid review? I think NYC CNC is cashing in... how about a more sophisticated review. How true are axes to each other? Dimensional stability and accuracy?

Looks kinda like the Haas desktop mill but without the standard Haas user interface box.
The main problem with these mini Mills is the price to performance ratio. Is lets me always come to the conclusion that i should just buy a small router for the price and be probably way more flexible at what i can do with the machine. Probably even cheaper...!!!

Very nice 👍

The maker bot guy bought this company and with all the millions he has this is the best thing he can come with? lol

This is not a milling machine. Milling requires power, rigidity, precision, and low runout, none of which a machine of this size and weight can provide. It is incapable of moving a tool with proper feeds and speeds for milling modes. Instead it is a high-speed nibbler or router that rubs off metal instead of milling. Putting CNC milling controls on a non-milling machine doesn't make it a mill.

Kinda laughable that this is more expensive than a Shariff DMC2 Kit (which can even do flood cooling and gets a mirror finish on steels).
Seems like Bre Pettis is just once again trying to fool people into buying overpriced stuff like he did with Makerbot. Probably he is just trying to get bought up, just like Makerbot got bought by Stratasys.

What a piece of crap. Reflects poorly on NYC CNC

I saw much chatter.....Doesn't look all that stable.

Could probably build this yourself for about $1000.

I bet it took that thing 6 hours to make it. Lol

Batman tools

Nice in depth video

Completely MISSING any information about 'supplied for review', 'free unit for the business' or we paid for it? Your 'review' is way to positive given the weak points and OTT pricing.

So basically NYC CNC is PBS Kids now?
*EDIT* I just looked this thing up and it's $4,000!! PLUS $200 annual subscription fee for the software!! You can REAL machine for that money!

Is this a sponsored video or not? It's pretty important info. I'd never make a purchasing decision without knowing this info.