We have already checked out the specifications, assembled the machine, and performed basic tests with the LUNYEE 3018 Pro Ultra CNC Router in the first part of the review. We’ve now had time to use the machine to carve text and logos on wood and aluminum.
It was Suthinee’s first CNC machine, so the LUNYEE 3018 Pro Ultra was reviewed from the point of view of a beginner. We used both the offline controller with files provided on the SD card and the Easel web-based CNC software.
Selecting and installing a drilling bit
Our sample came with 1/8″ drilling bits that ship by default with the CNC router, and the optional “LUNYEE 1/4″ Shank CNC Router Bit Essential Kit” as well as ER11 collets for each kit.
Selecting the bit will depend on the size of the work and the desired cutting pattern as shown below.
The first step is to install the bit into its collet.
After that, the user should loosen the cap on the drill with the supplied wrench, insert the bit, and tighten the cap to make sure it’s locked properly.
Using the LUNYEE 3018 Pro Ultra CNC Router with the offline controller
The LUNYEE 3018 Pro Ultra can be used with CNC software or the offline controller. The software would be required for the first milling, but once the milling is successful, and the user just wants to use the same file for a production run, he/she can use the machine with the offline controller without the need for a PC.
We noticed there were three example files on the microSD card in our controller. We decided to start with STAR.NC with spiral bit (0.07″2mm) and red wood. We ran the test without wood first, then after seeing the work area would fit on our wood sample, we manually adjusted the drill’s position to the start point. This resulted in our first broken bit.
After checking the pattern again while “milling air”, we noticed the drill would never lift, which seemed odd. So we switched to the IPHONE-1.NC file instead. The very first time, the drill will lower quite a lot, but in subsequent runs, the position remains the same. We changed the bit (0.1mm 30°) and adjusted the starting point like we did before, and this time it worked fine, although the result in not perfect.
We tried with softer wood, and the result looks a little better.
CNC Software selection and Easel initial configuration
In the first part of the review, we thought about using LaserGRBL software for review, but the LUNYEE 3018 Pro Ultra also supports a range of CNC software compatible with GRBL firmware, such as Fusion360, Easel, Candle, UGS, and LightBurn, among others.
But since the documentation from LUNYEE uses the web-based Easel software, we decided it was easier to go that route, especially since it works on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
Since the machine will be connected to a Windows 11 mini PC (Khadas Mind) over USB, we had to download and install the CH340 driver first.
Disconnect the offline controller before connecting the machine to your host with a USB cable. Now, if we go to Device Manager -> Ports (COM & LPT), we’ll find a new USB Serial Port (COM5 on our machine).
Now we can go to the Easel website to create an account and select the 30-day free trial.
After that, we are asked to select a CNC manufacturer. We selected LUNYEE INDUSTRIES and downloaded EaselDriver_0.4.4.0cf296f630.
The installation is now complete, and we can access Easel in our web browser with a sample project created with the name used during registration.
Time to configure it ot use the LUNYEE 3018 Pro Ultra CNC router. Let’s go to Machine -> Set up new machine -> Start Machine Setup.
We’ll need to select the model, as there are five LUNYEE machines supported. The 3018 Pro Ultra is in second position, so let’s go with that one.
Click “Confirm settings” if the parameters are fine. As a side note, a dust shoe would have been a nice addition since a CNC router generates a lot of dust.
We can now test the axis movement of the CNC machine by using the arrow keys to move the drill around the X, Y, and Z axes. If everything works as expected click “Yes” for each axis, and click on Continue. If something is wrong, check the wiring and try again.
The Spindle settings allow us to set whether we want Easel to automatically control the spindle (default). We did not change this, and clicked “Save spindle preference”.
Our CNC machine implements Homing Switches. So we clicked on “Yes, enable homing” and let the software home the drill.
However, this did not work for us, and Easel would never detect when the drill touches the Z-Probe. We double checked the connection, but could not come with a solution. Since this step is optional, we went back and selected “NO” to the step “Do you have a Z-Probe”.
Testing the LUNYEE 3018 Pro Ultra CNC machine with wood
We’ll use an existing wooden key holder as the material and engrave some text and logos on it. First, we need to hold the wood tightly with clamps or the piece will shift during the work. We also need to take measurements of the piece of wood, notably its thickness, and select threaded bits for the roughing and detail passes.
We created a design with “CNX” text in Easel, which also supports images, shapes, and 3D files. We had to select the material type (Walnut), and specify the width (X), length (Y), and height (Z) of the design, as well as the XYZ Zero position.
The wooden key holder is actually made of teak wood, but it’s not in the list of materials. ChatGPT said Walnut is the closest, so that’s what we selected. The dimensions of the section on the workpiece were X = 85 mm, Y = 80 mm, and Z = 20 mm.
In the next step, we selected the bit: 1/8 in Single Flute End Mill since it’s what we are going to use.
There are two options in the Cutting settings: Roughing to fast and deep engraving to remove most material, and Detail for slower, shallower, and sharper engraving. The first pass would be “Roughing”, and the second pass “Detail”. Roughing might be optional if the design is small and shallow.
We set the depth of the letters to 6mm, and we can run a simulation to check the path of the drill bit. The screenshot below indicates the N letter may not be complete with the Roughing pass.
As a final check, you may want to confirm the material is tightly held in place. If you can slide it with your hand, you’ll want to further tighten the clamps or adjust their positions. Also, check that the bit is firmly attached to the drill.
We’re now ready to go ahead. Click the green “PRO Carve” button on the top right of the interface, and confirm the material thickness. You could also use the Jog Machine to move the drill, but it’s not something we’ve used much at this step.
We’ll start with the Roughing pass to carve as much material as possible, although it might be possible to go straight with the Detail pass depending on the design.
In the next step, we are asked to confirm the bits. We used two bits. The thread mill (1/8″ 3.175mm) on the left was used for the Roughing pass, and the thread mill (0.07″ 2mm) on the right for the Detail pass.
Next, we manually moved the drill bit to the left corner by rotating the X and Y axes using the rotary button on the edge. We did the same for the Z axis to lower the drill bit to touch the surface of the material. Easel calls that “work zero”.
The final step is Start Carving itself with four steps: raise the bit, turn on the spindle, confirm the spindle is one, and Carve!
It’s highly recommended to monitor the machine during the milling/engraving process, listen for unusual noises, check whether the workpiece moves/slides, etc… If a problem occurs, press Emergency Stop, press “Pause/Cancel” in Easel, or turn off the machine with the ON/OFF button on the controller or power adapter. The emergency stop button stopped working for us after a while, and there’s a delay with the software method, so we used the latter method more than once.
It took about 15 minutes for the Roughing pass and Easel reported that the Carve is complete, letting the users select whether the carve turned out great or not so good.
If we click “Great – Review/Save Cut Settings”, it will save the project and show cut settings.
Once the drill is stopped, we can lift it (Z axis only) using the Jog Machine or by hand turning the knob of the Z-axis. Do not move the piece or adjust X/Y axes at this time, unless you noted the coordinates, since we have to start the Detail pass next.
The result matches the simulation where the letter N was not complete. So we’ve switched to a smaller bit and run the Detail pass. The result is much better, although there’s still a small piece of wood on the letter N, which we could remove manually.
You can watch the full engraving process in the speed-up video below.
For the next design, we used the text “Lambo” with different depths for the Roughing and Detail pass: 6mm depth with a helical end mill (1/8″ 3.175mm), followed by 8mm depth with a helical end mill (0.07″ 2mm) for 8mm depth of cut for finishing. It worked well, and the design is indeed different.
The Easel software has a Design library with many cliparts, including a few cars. A perfect choice for your (car) key holder!
We used a 6mm cutting depth using a small thread milling cutter (0.07″ 2mm). We only ran the Detail pass for this design, since there was nothing to do on the Roughing pass.
We also wanted to try to import an image instead of relying on the library or text. So we imported a Ferrari logo (SVG file), found on Wikimedia, into Easel.
We did two passes here with the same drilling bits: Roughing pass with a thread mill (1/8″3.175mm) and Detail with a thread mill (0.07″2mm). We set the cutting depth to 4 mm. The result looks great.
Here’s what our teak wood car key holder looks like after the work is finished.
We mentioned support for 3D objects above. So we imported the Ferrari SVG file into Blender and applied a Solidify modifier to it. It’s now a 3D logo that’s 1cm thick.
We exported the design as an STL file, which we imported into Easel. We kept using the same bits as before. We can see there are some small issues in the 3D file (“e” letter), but we figured we could always fix it after the cut. 
Since the plan was to fully cut the logo, we placed a piece of wood underneath to protect the bed. We used two passes with the same drilling bits as before. It looked to take good form during operation…
But after taking out the workpiece and cleaning it up a bit, we realized there was a small problem. The top left side was indeed cut, but the drill had not penetrated the section on the right. It might be fixable with some manual work, but if we had to do it again, we would probably change the depth in Easel to make sure all areas as properly cut.
The root cause looks like a levelling problem, but we did not find instructions for “bed levelling” like we would do with a 3D printer. We looked more into it at the end of the review, and CNC routers typically rely on a spoilboard, aka wasteboard, that can be surfaced before working on the piece. We should have probably done this on the plank used to protect the bed before cutting the logo…
Testing the LUNYEE 3018 Pro Ultra with aluminum
LUNYEE told used the 3018 Pro Ultra works with aluminum, and they would like us to try aluminum. When asked which bits would be suitable, they replied that any bit will work… Fair enough. So we got an aluminum alloy plate we previously used to review the LaserPecker LP5 2-in-1 diode and fiber laser engraver.
We used our test-based “CNX” design, selecting Aluminum as the material, and adjusted the depth to cut through the aluminum plate. The Roughing pass went OK, besides having the same levelling issue, but the Detail pass was quickly cut short as the smaller bit broke within seconds.
Maybe the aluminum alloy type used here is too strong, or we should have further adjusted some settings in Easel. We also noticed the aluminum alloy plate had now bent due to the pressure and heat (we saw some orange light/sparks during operation) of the drill bit.
So we lowered our expectations and tried again with a smaller and shallower X letter and a 30° pointed end mill using a Detail pass only.
The result looks almost fine, but the drill bit didn’t survive the operation, which may explain the marks on the bottom left side. So it looks like the LUNYEE 3018 Pro Ultra can indeed be used with aluminum, but it’s now straightforward, and the exact aluminum alloy type should be taken into consideration.
Conclusion
The LUNYEE 3018 Pro Ultra CNC router can be used by a beginner with Easel software, but there are some challenges and a steep learning curve. First, it requires a lot of reading, and we had to experiment with the CNC machine many times before getting to use it successfully (the wooden key holder was not our first piece of wood), selecting the appropriate bits, and so on. Documentation is important, especially for beginners, and we published three beginner reviews of DIY products in recent months. Kuljira started with the ELEGOO Centauri Carbon 3D printer and found it to be straightforward without any obvious roadblocks (except for missing support once), thanks to easy-to-follow instructions. Kuljira and Suthinee teamed up to review the LaserPecker LP5 2-in-1 diode and fiber laser engraver, and they really struggled due to hard-to-find and incomplete documentation. Finally, Suthinee felt it was a struggle with the LUNYEE CNC router, as the documentation could have been better.
Nevertheless, we eventually managed to get decent results using the LUNYEE 3018 Pro Ultra with wood, but aluminum alloy was more challenging. At first, we thought it should have been convenient to have the machine housed in a cabinet, but considering the size of the workpieces we used, it would have been a serious downside… CNC milling generates a lot of dust, and a dust show would have been ideal, but if it’s not included in the kit, a vacuum cleaner is a must to clean the mess after work is complete. Other unsolved issues include the Z-probe, which did not work for us, and the emergency button that stopped working after a while. We’ll also make sure to surface the spoilboard in future CNC router reviews to allow levelling issues…
We’d like to thank LUNYEE for sending a 3018 Pro Ultra CNC Router for review. The machine can be purchased on Amazon for $499 or on the company’s online store for $395.12 after using the coupon code “CNX12”, but I’m not sure why you’d use this coupon, as the company also has a “LYMD3018“ coupon bringing the price down to $359.20. Note that our review sample also shipped with the “LUNYEE 1/4″ Shank CNC Router Bit Essential Kit” available as an option for $65.99 before applying a coupon code.
CNXSoft: This article is a translation of the original review on CNX Software Thailand by Suthinee Kerdkaew.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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