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.
Daniel Lawrence (verified owner) –
What a fantastic product at a fantastic price. The wait was excruciating, but well worth it.
It’s actually my second CNC, but my first is small and rotary… kind of a different beast.
Assembly was remarkably easy. My only issue was reaching the allen bolt under the drag chain support (because of my particular allen wrench) – I was able to get past it easily, and everything else was SUPER easy. I literally did it with my 12 year old son, who called it “easier than some lego sets”.
A few things that I’ve noticed that are imperfect or could use improvement:
1) The new magnetic dust shoe, if you just try to just pull it off like a big dumb gorilla, it will cause the Y axis to move (potentially only on one side, leading to the X and Y axis not being at right angles unless you re-home the machine). It’s not a big deal, but something to be aware of. Yes. I’m the big dumb gorilla. I was surprised that I could get the machine out of square relatively easily. I re-checked the tension on all my v wheels, and they’re JUST turn-able by hand, so I think they’re correct.
2) Because of 1, above, Y axis limit switches as an accessory would make a ton of sense (Or is it not possible to have separate limit switches on the two Y axis motors for squaring? Is that a thing?)
2) It would be nice if you made the pre-loomed wiring available as an accessory so that (for example) a person could add a laser neatly. Or limit switches. Or permanent grounding for the touch plate, etc.
3) This is a big one: can you please add suggested feeds and speeds for the bits that you sell as they should perform FOR YOUR MACHINE with various materials? I understand there’s a lot of variance and opinion around this, and you can caveat it as safe starter values… but as a newcomer, the first thing you have to do is surface your spoil board… and there’s no good answers on your site or most speeds and feeds calculator articles about the settings you should use when surfacing as opposed to milling or routing. As long-term users of this actual machine, you likely know far better than a newcomer what a “safe” starting point is. You DO have F&S charts for a 1/4″ endmill… and not much else (and the values differ between the tables you have in two places). I’d like to see “Suggested Longmill Feeds and Speeds” ON the details of the item in the shop. 22mm surfacing bit? Item details: When used in our Longmill, we suggest the following feeds and speeds: MDF: 25% overlap, .5mm depth, 1500mm feed rate and 250mm plunge rate, Pine Edge Grain: 45% overlap, .5mm depth, 2000mm feed rate, 250mm plunge rate, Pine End Grain: 35% overlap… (or whatever – I’m purely guessing and making stuff up there… like I did when I surfaced my spoil board).
4) The locking screws on the robot-head grub screws are kinda hard to access. Not sure if there’s a resolution here, but it’s worth a mention. I’m fortunate enough to have a hollow-shaft socket and long allen wrenches, so I could hold the grub screw in place with the allen and snug to lock with a socket. I’m pretty sure most people would struggle to get tools in there once they need to adjust for backlash.
Beyond the above (which are very very minor to be honest), the machine is freaking incredible. Your site and associated videos are incredible. I’ve not needed support yet, but I hear it’s great, too.
-Machine ordered September 26, 2020
Christopher C. (verified owner) –
I’ve had the machine for nearly two months now. Assembly was pretty straightforward and so far I’ve had more successes than failures when it comes to machining. Great buy.
-Machine ordered September 23, 2020
william (verified owner) –
Great little machine. Set up takes some time but not to hard. Would recommend to anyone looking for a cnc router, in fact already have a few friends who plan on getting one after seeing mine in action.
-Machine ordered September 28, 2020
Jeremy S. (verified owner) –
It took a bit of work to get it set up and a bit of a learning curve, but this thing is AWESOME! I can’t wait to see what projects come of it in the next year.
-Machine ordered September 16, 2020
Steven B. (verified owner) –
I have purchased a 30 x 30 model, love it
-Machine ordered September 20, 2020
Edward Venable (verified owner) –
So far great as soon as i finish putting it together…. i have so much prep work i am doing now that I can’t get it finished
-Machine ordered September 20, 2020
Robert Williams (verified owner) –
I enjoyed assembling my 30×30 but have not used it yet. I am very new to all this. I have been unable to create a file that can be sent to the machine. I am trying to communicate on the forum to get input from other users to get over this speed bump.
-Machine ordered July 3, 2020
Brian H. (verified owner) –
This was my first cnc machine and after reviewing all of the other brands this one seemed to be the best bang for my buck.
I believe I was right. Other than the huge delay in shipping everything is exactly as stated. I had no trouble following the documentation to set up my machine and run a test cut. I think there should be a few more simple open and cut files available to show off some of the different capabilities this machine has to offer. I am still very new at this but have been able to cut some pencil boxes with a fitted lid, V carve some decorative pieces and some sectional trays.
-Machine ordered September 16, 2020
Gilbert Simmons (verified owner) –
I am extremely happy with my purchase of the Longmill. Before I received the machine I was a bit intimated by seeing it took most people a few days to assemble the machine but it took only a few hours and triple checking everything to be able to feel confident to turn it on.
With the Facebook group and all the great support they provide Ive enjoyed and learned a lot.
-Machine ordered September 18, 2020
Colin McRae (verified owner) –
there is a large number of places I would choose to use washers. I had to undo many connections to use washers where required. The size of mounting board would be helpful “at the start”
-Machine ordered September 10, 2020
harold Mead (verified owner) –
I couldn’t be happier, with the machine and the help that I have received from your staff,thank you very much,
-Machine ordered September 12, 2020
Roger Isenbarger (verified owner) –
Easy to assemble and cuts great.
-Machine ordered September 11, 2020
Ethan Miller (verified owner) –
This machine is awesome everything showed up in working order and as expected!!!!!
-Machine ordered September 13, 2020
Douglas V. (verified owner) –
So far I am loving this machine!
-Machine ordered September 9, 2020
Michael (verified owner) –
Machine functions nicely. Feeding the threaded rod through the bearings is a real challenge. HMI and controls function well. Everything the machine needs to do I am happy with. Overall build went well per instructions provided online. Reccomend cross-bracing between the end and the front of the “y” Axis to provide rigid support while building.
-Machine ordered August 30, 2020
Luka G. (verified owner) –
Really great customer service machine instructions were super straight forward and as my first CNC machine the resources that the longmill team have made available for beginners makes the most complex cuts easy i would recommend this machine to everybody Sienci labs youre the best <3
-Machine ordered September 7, 2020
Ron R. (verified owner) –
We took our time putting it together , seemed pretty straight forward, no real issues. The wife and I are complete newbies to this technology, so it’s taking some time to figure out the cad cam software. Have downloaded Carveco. Only thing we’ve tried so far is the longmill text cutting. Went well. Just need to find time to sit down and play with it. Your customer service is fantastic. Always there right away to help out.
-Machine ordered September 2, 2020
Clinton M. (verified owner) –
Great Value for the $$! Easy build-instructions and so far (other than user errors) the manufacturing quality is top notch!
-Machine ordered August 31, 2020
brian bausch (verified owner) –
When it’s working it runs good so far. After user errors I’ve ran into issues. I took a few days away from it and am back trying to find the part I need. I’m still a bit afraid to run large projects due to the coupling failure but will hopefully be back to running bigger more intricate projects on nice wood soon.
-Machine ordered August 31, 2020
Tony (verified owner) –
I really struggled with choosing a CNC machine but the Sienci team won me over with their honest answers to my questions and their guidance to unbiased forums discussing the merits of competitors. The company ethos and values really come across in their videos and the personalities of the team. An amazing brand.
The machine assembly was a joy and I was amazed at the quality of all components. It’s an extremely solid and good looking machine.
Customer service was prompt and friendly (to be expected). I had a problem with customs forms and it was sorted quickly and I even got a few extras by way of an apology.
It’s still early days for me so I’m making mistakes and learning how to carve with different mills. The community is amazingly helpful and have really helped me out with great advice and links (especially Grant).
-Machine ordered August 25, 2020
Matthew Donatelli (verified owner) –
Once you get the hang of this machine it’s an amazing tool.
-Machine ordered August 20, 2020
Rhett Collier (verified owner) –
My longMill works great after a couple fixes. Sienci Labs was great about sending a missing part. I was able to fix an issue with the controller power connector. It was tinned and didn’t have a good connection. I cut off the of the cable, stripped it and reinserted it into the connector. The ugs gcode sender was stopping in the middle of jobs. I had to download several different versions before I found one that worked on Ubuntu Linux. I wish there were more videos on youtube about milling metal.
-Machine ordered August 21, 2020
Wayne (verified owner) –
Machine was delivered on time, great interaction with the team on ordering and pick up. Zero issues on setup instructions were clear and concise. No issues with the machine since, I am still learning and with the community you have built this adds to it. So far I have made some shop projects hold downs, dust collection gates, a lot of engraving / signs. I have some prototypes for other projects to sell and I am presently learning to carve.
Great value
-Machine ordered August 16, 2020
Chris Cober (verified owner) –
I got the 30×30 Longmill. This machine is surprisingly solid. I spent a couple weekends building my table and assembling the machine – the online assembly manual is detailed, complete and very well written.
My only assembly issue was that several of the flange bearings were too tight on the lead screws. I had to do a bit of light sanding on the first inch of those lead screws to get a good snug fit.
Other than that, very impressed. The aluminum rails are very beefy and the 3D printed parts are too. My first projects have turned out better than my expectations.
Thumbs up so far!
-Machine ordered August 1, 2020
Derrick (verified owner) –
I have experience building kits from the early days of 3D printers and a lot of this technology is shared with a CNC, such as grbl, g-code, stepper motors, axis control, etc.
Assembly was straight forward, but documentation could use some updates. Some of the photos did not match the latest version of the kit I received. Still very good though.
Customer service has been exceptional. I did have a problem with some v-wheels being under sized, causing slop in the Z-axis gantry. After making some measurements for the support rep, I was sent a replacement X-axis rail and V-wheels. Similarly, I found my Y-axis wheels were also under sized and got those replaced promptly.
In the last few weeks, I have made my own tools for my workshop, from simple angle finders and 90 degree clamps, to a downdraft dust collection table. I have also made some signage and name plaques. Currently making some coasters and designing a dog bed.
Overall, I wish I could give a 4.5 out of 5. The LongMill isn’t perfect, and one should not expect perfection. The LongMill is a tool, and like so many tools it requres a little skill to operate, and a lot of practice to master.
-Machine ordered August 18, 2020