If I was buying one today I would seriously think about the Elite but I don’t think that it’s so much better than the Original machine. Closed loop steppers (servos) are nice but I haven’t seen issues with losing steps. An extra axis would be nice for a rotary axis but the Y axis can be converted. The touch panel is nice but not having the joypad actually makes is less appealing to me. I found even the 10" display too small but, unlike the Masso, you can buy a larger touch display (I got rid of the 10" and have a 21" now) for the original machine. The OS on the Masso seems more mature but 1F is making improvements to the original version all the time. You might be able to cut faster on the Elite but that’s more bit dependent than machine. If you are planning on using large bits in a spindle then the extra beef and servos would be nice. But I run a spindle that I can put 1/2" shank bits in and the only bit that I felt was too large for my Journeyman was a 3" diameter round core bit.
People like to get the most expensive thinking it’s best but if they don’t have a real need it’s not always the right choice.
My 2 cents worth is the Masso control is light years ahead of the BB control, look at lot of the post on this forum regarding BB, a real turn off for me.
The OF BB controller is very easy to use and has some nice features like the Joypad and remote web interface for management and RS485 spindle control and feedback and up until v1.0.9 was stable (I’ve run thousands of projects on it and never had an issue). My guess would be they’ve transitioned the controller development from one team (possibly BB themselves) to another team and they’ve had a number challenges with it lately… whatever it is hopefully it’s fixed soon. If you stay on 1.0.9 for now the OF BB controller works (I no longer use the OF BB controller so I can’t really comment on anything past 1.0.9).
Is the Masso a better controller? I’d say like anything it depends on the use case. If you want to mostly make signs and things like that either will do the job. If you require more advanced features that the Masso offers like feed overrides, auto-squaring and probing then go Elite. The closed loop stepper motors are an added benefit of the Elite as well. Are closed loop required for you use case? I run a Masso with the stock open loop stepper motors and they work great. I’ve considered moving to closed loop but can’t justify the cost right now.
If you’re not sure of the use cases for your machine I’d suggest going Elite to start as I’ve spent more than the delta between the non-elite and elite to implement the Masso G3 to get the added functionality and still have a machine with the Z16, no stiffy and open loop steppers.
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Aiph5u
(Aiph5u (not affiliated with Onefinity))
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Regarding the Buildbotics.com-derived Onefinity Controller, I agree to what Derek said, and I always remember to consider the good price with which you get a 4-axis CNC controller that can run the g-code program you like. It allows proximity sensors as limit switches, it’s the Onefinity machine that lacks those, not the controller that lacks the capability. You can retrofit them to get perfect positioning repeatibility (what is not provided with stall homing). The new version of original Buildbotics.com controller even allows to run closed-loop steppers because it has an additional connector with the step, direction, and enable signals laid to the outside so you can attach external motor drivers. What it lacks are the optocouplers, the pins of the AVR are directly on I/O port, so you got to take care yourself how to attach external things.
The optocouplers are not soldered, but all socketed for easy replacement. This is something that you have to build yourself on the Onefinity / Buildbotics controller.
What I like on the Onefinity / Buildbotics Controller is joystick control, and I would recommmend throwing away the flimsy gamepad and instead using this (available here).
