How much does a CNC machine service cost?

My CNC machine service cost is simple: £500. That is the price on my site. What it covers depends on the machine in front of me, so when you ring I'll go through what that means for yours before you book.

Below is what goes into that service, what happens when it finds a worn part, how to tell whether any service quote is good value, and how to set the visit up so nothing gets missed.

What goes into a CNC machine service cost?

A service is a proper look at the parts that wear. On a service I go through:

• Greasing and lubrication. Rails, carriages, racks and pinions. Old grease packed with dust holds grit against the metal, so it wants cleaning off, not topping up.
• An alignment check. If the machine has started cutting a fraction out, this is where it gets found, rather than blamed on the operator or the material. The check is part of the service. Putting the alignment right is not: it is a separate job, and on a 5-axis machine a full alignment can take two days and cost upwards of £1,200 on its own. If yours needs one, I'll tell you, and you decide when to book it.
• The drive train. Toothed belts, pulleys, servo motors and the drive pinions that move each axis. A worn pinion or a stretched belt shows up as play long before it lets go.
• Electrical checks. The connections and components that keep the machine powered and talking to its control.
• E-stops and guards. These need to work every time someone reaches for them. A service is the moment to prove it.

If I find wear, I show it to you and explain why it matters. Then the next step is your call, made while the machine is still running.

You can see the service listed with its price on my CNC servicing page.

What if the service finds a worn part?

Say the service turns up a pinion with chewed teeth or a belt on its way out. I'll show it to you and tell you what putting it right involves before anything is done. Nothing gets fitted on the quiet and found later on an invoice. If you want to know how a particular part would be priced on your machine, ask me when you book.

Breakdown work is separate. A service is planned: the machine is running, you've picked the day, and I'm looking for wear. A breakdown is the machine stopped mid-job. There is no fixed price for that, because nobody can price a fault they haven't found. On a breakdown the order of things is always the same: the fault is found first, then you hear what's wrong and the price of putting it right, and the work starts only once you've agreed. The breakdown repair section explains how that works.

Why do service quotes for the same machine differ so much?

If you've had a few prices for servicing, they probably don't line up. One common reason: they are quoting for different jobs under the same word. Before you compare figures, ask each one the same questions:

• What is actually on the list? A visit that greases the rails and wipes the bed is not the same job as one that checks calibration, drives, electrics and safety circuits.
• Are parts in the price, or quoted separately? A low figure with parts added later can end up costing more than a higher one.
• What happens when something worn is found? Are you shown it, told about it, or just sent an invoice?
• Does the engineer know your make? Someone who knows that make knows where it tends to wear. Someone meeting it for the first time spends part of your money learning.
• How is getting to you charged? Ask, so it doesn't surprise you later.

Put the answers side by side and the cheapest quote and the best value are often two different people.

Is a service cheaper than waiting for a breakdown?

I won't pretend to know your numbers. But you do, and the sum is worth doing once. Take what an hour of that machine is worth to you when it is cutting. Now add the things a breakdown brings with it: operators stood waiting or moved onto other work, an order that goes out late, panels scrapped because a part moved or an axis drifted mid-cut, and the phone call to a customer you'd rather not make.

The parts that fail don't fail at random. In most breakdowns, the warning signs came first: slack you can feel in an axis, cuts creeping out of tolerance, a new sound from the gantry. Caught on a service, a worn pinion is a part you order and fit on a day you choose. Caught when it finally lets go, it is fitted on the machine's timetable, which may well land in your busiest week.

Weigh the £500 against what an unplanned stop costs you.

When is a service the wrong thing to book?

A service is for a machine that is working. If yours is already doing something it shouldn't, don't wait for a service slot to mention it. An error on the screen that won't clear, an axis that won't move or home, a panel that won't stay put because it's losing vacuum, a machine that won't power up at all: those are faults, and they want looking at the day they start.

Ring and describe what it's doing. Sometimes it's a setting or a software problem we can clear on the call. If it needs a visit, it's a repair, and the service can come once the machine is running again. Booking a service and hoping it covers a fault you already know about only means the visit starts with a surprise for both of us.

What should you budget for besides the service?

It's worth keeping something aside for whatever the service turns up. You won't need it every time, but a budget with nothing spare turns a worn part into an argument about whether to fit it now or limp on. The same goes for the alignment: if the check shows the machine is out, putting it right is quoted as its own job.

Two things worth thinking about while you set that money aside. First, timing: book the service ahead of your busy season, not in the middle of it, so any part that needs ordering arrives while you still have slack. Second, the consumables that wear with every sheet. On a pod machine, tired pods with split or hardened seals let panels move. My stock pods are listed with prices on the vacuum pods page, so you can see that cost up front.

How often should a CNC machine be serviced?

Start with the maker's manual. It gives the interval the machine was designed around. Then be honest about how hard yours works, because the manual can't know that.

• Hours, not months. A router running two shifts clocks up hours twice as fast as one running a single shift, so it reaches the maker's interval sooner.
• Material. MDF dust gets everywhere, and dust mixed with grease wears moving parts. A machine that cuts it all day is worth watching closely.
• Age and history. A machine that came to you second-hand, with no record of what has been done to it, deserves a closer look sooner.

Ring me and we can talk about how often yours should be seen.

How do I get the most out of the visit?

Make the visit count. A few things make a real difference:

• Make a list of the niggles. The noise on the X axis, the error that pops up on a Monday, the corner that's always a touch out. Small things tell me where to look harder.
• Note the error codes. Write down exactly what the screen says, or take a photo of it. "Some alarm" doesn't help; the code does.
• Give me room. Clear stacked sheets and offcuts from around the machine before I arrive, so I can get at every side of it.
• Have an operator about. The person who runs it every day knows things nobody writes down: what it sounded like last month, what changed after a job swap.
• Tell me the basics when you book. The make and model, which control it runs on and its rough age.

Does it matter who services it?

It does, and not because of a badge. I've worked on CNC machinery for over 17 years and have run CNC Medic as my own business since 2023. My deepest knowledge is of SCM and Morbidelli, built up over my years on the SCM Group UK payroll. I'm independent now, not a dealer or an agent, but that time is why I know where those machines wear and what they tend to do before something gives. Hua Hua machines I sell and look after too, and makes built around a Syntec control are fine. Running something different? Give me the make and model on the phone and we'll talk it through.

You can read more about how I work on the about page.

Book a service

Ring me on 07904 610916. It's my own phone, so it's me you'll get. Tell me the make and model, what it runs on, and anything it has been doing that it shouldn't. If you'd rather I rang you, leave your details on the contact page and I'll call you back.