ok strictly it hasn't started yet, but i need to gather everything together and start planning this machine now as the mrs has all but given the green light due to a lovely PPI claim coming through unexpected.

so i'm trying to understand where to start and i suppose you start with what are you going to cut as this kind of sets the boundaries for what spindle you can use.

so.. i want to do some engraving in mdf, other nice woods, some acrylic so it can be lit up from the sides ect.. obviously there is some need for speed to keep the finnish up.. so before i try and cut corners here and say i want to use a dremel or something similar do i need to go all out and go for a water cooled spindle or is there something else out there that will suit my needs?

now once i figure out what spindle i am using i can then find out how big it's mount needs to be and from there i can work outwards and figure out rail sizes, screw sizes and then i can work on the frame to hold everything.


so with all the above in mind am i missing anything?

as a small note.. if i decided at a later date i wanted to cut alu with the machine would a need to design it differently than with the mdf and acrylic in mind