Well, I've had my IQ HHC for 2 weeks now and received several PM's for information on the machine. Here are my initial observations:
The Good:
1. Beautifully packed in a sturdy packing crate, arrived with no damage.
2. Rugged Good looking machine with very nice MDF spoil boards on top of a polycarbonate sheet with 1/2" t slots in between the boards. Very easy to swap out when needed.
3. Plug it in and turn it on, no messing about with PC's, drivers, windows etc.
4. Water cooled spindle is very quiet, and so far has plenty of torque.
And now the bad:
1. Poor Quality Control, when I lifted the controller box, I heard a clunk. I opened the box and upon inspection I found the following:
a. Z amplifier never mounted, just flopping about inside the box.
b. Only 2 screws holding in the power supply, others were loose.
c. Spindle control front panel cutout looks like it was done with a can opener, corrosion on the outside and covered up with white paint. Purely cosmetic but looks bad.
d. Broken ground wire from spindle controller.
e. Power cord was only 3 ft long, had to replace with something a little more realistic.
2. Incomplete documentation, barely any information on how to operate the HHC hand controller. Some things that are not documented:
a. How to fly cut the spoil board.
b. How to change speeds on the fly, spindle, feed etc.
c. How to change default settings.
d. How to transfer program from USB Drive to internal memory, how to delete etc.
3. After complaining about the docs they sent me a user manual for the HHC controller which is titled "RZNC-0501 Users Guide"
Google that and you will find that it's a Chinese controller, which I could have live with, but it's unreadable. I called them back and stated that when I buy a machine I expect a a complete ENGLISH manual that I can read, which illustrates ALL the functions of my machine that I need to know as an owner.
I was told by the sales guy when I was shopping, that the machine frame was made in China but that everything is assembled in the US. I am now aware that the controller and the hand held unit and all the electronics come from china. Had I known this I wouldn't have bought it. The sales information was...less than truthful by omission of crucial information. I drilled the sales guy on what was from China, and what was assembled here. Even after I called him on the condition of my box, he stuck to his guns saying that the box was assembled here. I exclaimed that I cannot believe an American built that box.
I was under the impression that spindle speed is controllable via GCode, it's not.
All units of measure are in mm and cannot be displayed in inches.
After complaining about the condition of the controller I was first offered $200 and a replacement controller box, I found that insulting since it was going to take me at least 3 hours to replace the box since it's all hard wired, no connectors to the box. Which means disconnecting all the wires to the 3 amps, power supplies etc. I didn't feel I should have to do their work. They offered to take the machine back, but it took me 5 hours to un-assemble the crate, and lift the thing with an engine hoist onto my workbench, I was not looking forward to reversing the process (they think I like wasting my time). In the end I agreed to a dust collector, and I would fix the current box.
I was supposed to get 2 hours of training with Router Bob. I havent heard squat from anyone, I've left several requests now for someone to call me to schedule.
I've been able to start using the machine right away and I'm happy with the performance, but the experience has been less than satisfactory. The machine is sturdy, and well built, and with a winCNC controller would be killer. I may start looking into converting. But for now it works, I'm learning a lot, and I can do everything I set out to do with the machine.
But right now I'm not sure if the $2000 savings over a Stinger I with an HSD spindle was a good value.
At present I cannot recommend the machine, I'm waiting to see how they support me going forward, and I will post my experience good or bad either way.
Regards