Chris Whitmarsh Posted December 28, 2017 Report Share Posted December 28, 2017 After talks with the wife of what we could potentially do with a CNC router and maybe earn a little money with signage and other custom work, I'm investigating whether to build or buy. I almost always lean towards buy... Certainly not because I have the money, but because I don't have the requisite knowledge to build and don't really consider myself mechanically inclined (quite the opposite in fact). If I choose to buy, do y'all have any recommendations on products to either look into or avoid altogether? Open to any input... Thanks in advance. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick S Posted December 30, 2017 Report Share Posted December 30, 2017 What size machine and what size budget? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikem Posted January 2, 2018 Report Share Posted January 2, 2018 Also, what materials are you wanting to machine on the CNC? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave H Posted January 2, 2018 Report Share Posted January 2, 2018 I'm not trying to sway you one way or, the other but here is the first video in a series of video's that Jason Beam built his CNC machine. I found this series interesting even though I have no interest in building one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikem Posted January 2, 2018 Report Share Posted January 2, 2018 I will second the video series that higtron posted. I have worked closely with Jason with the design and build of my machine. He is actually working on building his second machine right now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyokahn Posted January 2, 2018 Report Share Posted January 2, 2018 Depends on budget and requirements. I'd say under $1000, anything you buy requires assembly and/or is way overpriced for its capabilities, so building would probably be your best option. $1k to $4k is debatable. I think it's quite unlikely you'd build something with a budget over $4k (unless you go 4'x8' with big motors, a huge spindle, fat linear rails, extra rigid store bought alu extrusions and even a tool changer), that's already enough for a decent ready-made 2' x 4' machine i think. Also, even if you're not mechanically inclined you need to be ready to grab a wrench and adjust things whichever way you go, this would get easier if you went through the lengthy process of building it yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Whitmarsh Posted January 4, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2018 Sorry.... got busy going back to work after the holiday! Budget would hopefully be under 4K if we were to do it. Mostly we would be looking at routing wood products; I don’t foresee any metal fabrication anytime in the next 10 years, if ever. When I say I’m not mechanically inclined, I can change oil and turn wrenches, I just don’t trust myself all that much with building a CNC router if I’m not following very detailed plans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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