Quote Originally Posted by Tenson View Post
Just curious, how many of you like good stereos? Not to be rude, but most of the machinists I have met don't seem to worry about wearing hearing protection even though they work in very noisy places. Please protect your hearing, it's not girly!
I quite like audio ;)

I knew you'd get the bug. The 3020 looks like good training wheels but I'd ignore everything about its construction if your wanting to making a decent machine. They're notoriously shite in general and the principles used are barely suited to its own small frame let alone once scaled up.

I think I already mentioned it to you over on DIYA but I bought a 'commercial' 4x4ft machine from a supplier here in the UK. Its been eventful and to be honest I wish I'd built my own now. Its really not that difficult with that right tools and a helping hand from folks on here. Of course I wanted to be up and running quickly so thought an off the shelf solution would be best. That was December and 4 months on I still haven't cut a single useful part yet. Annoying but around £5.5k lighter in pocket I'm almost ready to go. I hate to think what that money would have bought if I'd DIY'd.

Good luck with the machine. If you listen to the folks like Jazz then you won't go far wrong.

PS. Since your building this can't you go with a larger bed? I'd say 4x4ft is the minimum for cabinet work otherwise you'll be swapping sheets in and out as often as you change undies. 4x4 also has the advantage of taking a standard sheet without cutting. I would have liked an 8x4ft really but that would take up most of the workshop. Interestingly you might want to consider wall mounting or making a vertical frame to get the bed size up and the floor space back.

Don't forget about your choice of spindle too. I know its early days and you haven't even drawn up plans for the construction yet but I'd recommending avoiding regular routers, even the larger one's. I went with one of these types and quickly swapped to a 3hp water cooler spindle with vfd. These are around £250-350(inc del) from china via ebay and can vary in quality depending on the seller. Check out linearmotion_2008, he seems to sell the better models. If you prefer to buy from the UK then CNC4you have the same model for £369

http://www.cnc4you.co.uk/index.php?r...product_id=147