RATTMMOTOR 3018-PRO MAX CNC Router

What the MAX brings is a 3018-PRO frame with a better controller than the earliest kits:

• A cased GRBL 1.1 board with a power switch, a fan port for forced cooling, and a plug-in USB socket in place of a surface-soldered one.
• Ports for the extras: emergency stop, X, Y and Z limits, a tool-setting probe and an offline controller.
• An optocoupler-isolated spindle drive that runs cooler and supports spindles up to 20,000 rpm.
• A 24V 5.6A power supply accepting 110–240V mains.

The mechanics are the standard recipe: black PA6 nylon plates on aluminium profile, stainless lead screws, NEMA 17 steppers and a 775 spindle on an ER11 collet. The envelope is 300 × 180 × 45 mm in a frame 420 × 350 × 270 mm.

Once built, the first test is the same as on any GRBL kit: connect over USB, check the software reads Idle, power the 24V supply, spin the spindle up and jog each axis at a feed of 200 to 500.

How the badges line up across makers is laid out in the 3018 Pro Max comparison.

• Rubber stamps. Mirror the artwork, then cut away the background with a flat end mill and leave the letters standing. The 20° V-bits in the box clean up fine serifs.
• Carbon fibre sheet. The dust is fine, abrasive and conductive. Run a vacuum at the bit, wear a proper dust mask, and keep dust away from the controller board. Bits dull quickly, so budget for spares.
• PVC and foam board. Mill it freely; the spindle handles it easily. Never put PVC under a laser module later, since burning it releases chlorine compounds.
• Phone cases. Hold the curved back on a printed or carved jig and engrave shallow, 0.2 mm or less.
• Copper and aluminium. Light engraving and thin sheet only, at slow feeds and 0.1–0.2 mm per pass.

The quoted accuracy of about 0.2 mm is ample for stamps, signs and through-hole PCBs. Fine-pitch surface-mount boards sit at the edge of it, and are better left to a stiffer frame with a sharper engraving bit. Material-by-material starting feeds are gathered in what a 3018 cuts.

1. Collets. The ER11 nut ships with a 3.175 mm (1/8-inch) collet. ER11 collets cover shanks up to 7 mm, so 4 mm, 6 mm and 1/4-inch bits become usable with the right collet.
2. Limit switches and an E-stop. The board has the ports; the CNCTOPBAOS switch and E-stop kit comes from the same Changzhou maker and targets 3018-PRO-Max frames.
3. A Z probe. The probe port takes a clip-and-plate tool setter for one-click Z zero.
4. An offline controller. The MAX is also offered bundled with one; the board detects the pad and a computer at the same time.
5. A faster 775. The spindle drive supports up to 20,000 rpm, so a 24V 20,000 rpm 775 can replace the stock motor in the same holder.

What the MAX will not become is an aluminium mill. The 775 holder, the moulded plates and 45 mm of Z set a ceiling that parts cannot lift much. Owners who outgrow it tend to move to a 500W frame rather than rebuilding this one.

The full upgrade order, with the cheapest wins first, is in 3018 upgrades.

Pick the RATTMMOTOR MAX if:

• The work is wood, plastics, PCB and stamps.
• Safety parts and offline control can come later, one at a time.
• A light, compact kit suits the bench.

Pick the Upgrade if homing and a stop button should be there on day one. Pick the CNCTOPBAOS if cutting without a computer matters most. Move to the LUNYEE if aluminium, brass or thick hardwood is on the list, since that is where a 500W spindle and 80 mm of Z earn their keep.

The two RATTMMOTOR kits and the CNCTOPBAOS share a maker and much of the hardware, so parts cross over between them easily. That makes the plainer MAX a reasonable start: the switches, stop and offline pad of the other two can all be added later.

Across all four, check the same three things: working area against the largest planned part, the collet size against the bits already owned, and whether the kit or the finished-machine route suits the evening available for building.