Description
Turn your ideas into a reality with the LongMill Benchtop CNC
The LongMill helps you take your woodworking and fabrication to the next level. Its range of workable materials include: any species of wood, a variety of plastics, soft metals like aluminum and brass, and a variety of machinable foams and waxes for model making or metal casting. Make signs, engravings, mid-size furniture, stands and shelves, wooden toys and games, guitar bodies, and much more! (see more in our Gallery)
We offer our machine because CNC technology opens up a whole new world of making capabilities, especially to those who have a limited shop environment or budget. Our goal is to empower you by giving you access to both a machine that’s capable of a wide range of projects, and by assuring you of the assistance that you’ll receive from our team as well as our ever-growing community of machine owners: many of whom started off green to the world of CNC as well but are now happy to share what they’ve learned along the way. (see our Facebook group and Forum). We provide a complete set of resources and instructions to get you on your way to running your first job on your machine.
We designed the LongMill to be the best hobby CNC router in its class, offering rigidity, and reliability, while being easy to put together. With large extruded aluminum rails, fully supported Y-axes, 1/4″ steel gantries on all axes, and high precision MG-12 type linear guides on the Z-axis, the LongMill is the most powerful CNC router in its class and price point.
Every kit comes with all the…
- Hardware, rails, lead screws, and gantries
- Control box, wires, and motors
- Instructions (downloadable from our website)
Assembly only takes a few hours and can be done with a set of wrenches, Allen keys, and a flat head screwdriver. There is absolutely no soldering. We’ve spent thousands of hours designing and testing the LongMill to ensure that this machine is easy to put together. If you can put together IKEA furniture, then putting together the LongMill will be a breeze.
What do you provide?
- Your own wasteboard/spoilboard (found at your local hardware store), this is the surface that you’ll be mounting your machine to. See the ‘Size’ tab above for more info.
- A router (purchase one from us, use one you already have, or find one at your local hardware store/online)*
For routers, we recommend the Makita RT0700/RT0701. It’s a reliable and super powerful router that we’ve been using on our CNC machines for years.
Here are some other compatible routers we recommend:
- Bosch Colt (Use with 71mm router mount, some versions may have a slightly larger 72mm diameter which may not be compatible)
- Dewalt 611 (Use with 71mm router mount)
The LongMill can accommodate bore sizes of 52, 65, 71, and 80mm, Don’t see your router listed? Let us know the diameter of your router so that we can make an adapter.
Please note that routers/spindles which are…
- Over 2.7kg/6lbs
- Wider than 80mm/3″
…may not be compatible. Please message us with your router size if you have a router that isn’t listed.
*Routers that we supply will be 110V only (North America). If you live in a country that uses a different voltage, please purchase a router in your region. LongMills will come with a power supply that supports both 110V and 220V.
The LongMill comes with free software and is compatible with dozens of other paid and free software. Try our Toolchain Wizard to get a quick recommendation for software that may work best for you.
Technical Details:
– Laser cut, 1/4″ steel gantry plates for high rigidity
– Standard profile, extruded aluminum rails on the X and Y axis and MGN12 linear guides on Z axis
– Delrin V wheels with variable eccentric nuts
– 4-start, 2mm pitch, 8mm diameter ACME lead screw for high torque and fast movement
– NEMA 23 stepper motors on all axis
– 3D printed and aluminum parts
– Mount for Makita RT0701C routers, or request a custom mount size
– 24V power supply
– Arduino board loaded with GRBL firmware
– 4A TB6600 drivers
Our machine uses open-source hardware and firmware, letting users build and modify their machines. Not only that, many of our components are standard and easy to source or 3D printable, making replacing parts easy.
Patrick Baerts (verified owner) –
It is a very study machine ! I like it
Creighton Brown (verified owner) –
I am a manufacturing Engineer and work with large CNC Mills and Lathes everyday so purchasing this CNC router gave me the opportunity to bring some of that knowledge home.
Assembly was went very smooth, as one who writes Standard work procedures I appreciated your clear instructions and the ease of installation.
The biggest challenge I have experienced was dealing with the software which I know is not programmed by Sienci…but as many other people have, I struggled with UGS being glitchy and stopping in the middle of carves. I am also on the fence between needing more advanced design software but not at the point where I can justify spending $20 to $100 a month on a subscription. It would be very nice to have a software provided with a $1400 dollar machine…maybe in the future…
Right now I have just been making signs, wall hangings, Christmas gifts, but I hope to be able to sell products in the future once I get the process streamlined a little bit and narrowed down to just a few styles that I can make repeatably without a long setup.
There was definitely a learning curve going from a standard mill cutting cast iron and aluminum to running the router, but overall it has been very forgiving and I have enjoyed the journey.
Don Rideout (verified owner) –
This is my second Longmill. I needed a second one to help me keep up with the projects I’m doing. Ordering was easy and the delivery date was expedited because of the Sienci folks working their butts off to fill orders. I was missing the small plastic shields for the dust shoe but they were put in the mail to me immediately. More spare parts need to be kept on hand, especially ones that are known to break down with heavy use.
Luc (verified owner) –
Couldn’t be happier with the machine. The start was rough due to EMI issues but since this has gotten resolved, no further issues. The customer support is outstanding and the Facebook group is full of helpful users. I had little experience before working with this machine. I owned a MillOne v3 prior to this but quickly outgrew its capabilities.
Paul Dyck (verified owner) –
I took my time assembling and it took about 7hours. Only difficulty was the worm nut for the Z axis, I had to leave it slightly loose. It just had too much friction moving if I tightened it right down, especially at the upper range. Strange because it didn’t look to be out of line.
I love the machine and have made seven 2D projects so far. Just simple things as I am learning the software.
Any idea where to actually find some free DXF clip art? Or SVG? Carbide Create Pro was supposed to include a library but I don’t seem to be accessing it.
Really proud of the table I built for the router. Used a bookshelf unit that I bought for one dollar from MaxSold
Timothy Ellis (verified owner) –
Owning the LongMill has been a lot of fun and a great experience. Great support from Sienci. I’ve seen fantastic dedication to their customers. So far I’ve used my LongMill to create signs, do inlay work, and a simple 3D carving. My current project is to build a Acoustic Dreadnaught style guitar. I will use my LongMill as one of many tools to accomplish that task. I just finished creating the forms and jigs to bend and form the sides. Next is create the 3D CADD design for a 15′ arch back. Also create the template for the location of the guitars interior braces. Will use the LongMill to route pockets for inlays on the headstock, Fretboard and Bridge. A near term future project is to build a Wood Compass wall art, using scrape wood from my guitar projects. One minor enhancement that would be nice is to have the Z-Axis motor mounted directly to XZ-Axis Gantry rather than the belt. I noticed Shapeoko is offering that now. Evidently they were getting a lot of complaints from their customers about belt drive slippage. Might help you get ahead of the curve. I’ve not had any problems with the belt on my LongMill and understand the belt drive here is different than Shapeoko’s original design. I just have the basic appreciation of fewer moving parts is always better. One additional comment, it would be interesting for LongMill customers to have a location to share their CAD/CAM files.
Michael B. (verified owner) –
Very fair price for what you get. I never used an CNC router before. Their online video’s are excellent. Had no issues building the machine and no issues running it. Everything you need is on the Longmill website for success . This is the best workshop machine I have ever had. Thanks
-Machine ordered October 8, 2020
John Fiske (verified owner) –
Sienci Labs is doing it right with the Longmill. Easy to put together and a very sturdy machine. I love the fact that its open source and easy to set up. If I can do it, anyone can. So far, every carve I have done has been spot on, and I’m a total noob at this. Andy and Chris, thank you for an affordable, awesome cnc machine.
-Machine ordered September 30, 2020
Wayne (verified owner) –
Great Machine. Smart Choice. Everything is great. Learning so much. Thank you.
-Machine ordered October 8, 2020
SETH C. (verified owner) –
Very user-friendly, especially for someone new to Cnc machines. The team at Sienci has been wonderful as well. I broke a part during assembly (user error), and they overnight shipped a piece to me so I could continue working!
-Machine ordered September 28, 2020
bruce Pincombe (verified owner) –
longmill works great! The only problem I’ve had the 8 bolts on the Zaxes slides came loose. I think they should have thread locker on them. Assembly was easy and chris’s videos helped a lot. I am a retired truck driver and not looking to make money with my mill. It’s only a hobby for me. Using easel I’ve made a toy box, several game boards, hold down clamps and knobs, coasters from sample flooring, couple of signs and a boat stand for a r/c boat. Next up is window cornices and I’m looking forward to trying aluminum r/c boat parts. I would like to know how the numbers on the makita router relate to rpms. Thank you for making a quality mill at an affordable price.
-Machine ordered September 27, 2020
Richard McMahon (verified owner) –
I have been interested in CNC machinery for a number of years but have always thought that such equipment was too expensive until I came across the longmill. It took a lot of research before committing to buying my longmill and I have to say I am well impressed with the entire service and equipment provided by Sienci. Right from the off you knew where your order was in the supply chain and how long you had to wait for delivery. The updates regarding the status of the machine throughout this period was real time. Once arrived I started into the assembly which was guided by very detailed step by step online assembly instructions. Once assembled I got stuck into the software side of things which I found to be quite manageable having been used to cad software previously and which was a massive help when trying to put your design to reality. I think without this experience the learning process would have taken a lot longer. I now have the machine nearly 2 months and to date all my projects are 2d signs and letter carving. I need to build up my tooling inventory to expand my creations. Overall a great sturdy piece of machinery very well priced with great online videos and guides to get you CNC’ing. 5 stars.
-Machine ordered October 1, 2020
Jason Britton (verified owner) –
I ordered this on backorder and boy was it worth the wait. Once the cnc shipped it arrived early, which was great. Machine assembly was easy and straight forward. Unfortunately I did not receive the m5 nylock nuts, but I contacted them and they had them shipped to me within 2 days, that’s great customer service. I would definitely recommend the longmill to anyone looking to get into cnc machining at an affordable price with a quality product, great company and wonderful community.
-Machine ordered October 2, 2020