Hi all

Where here comes the noobie questions, sorry but I need to ask

To begin with a little about me and what I want to do. I am a glass and stone carver, something that started as a hobby (with a bit of profit) but due to life it is now going to have to be my main source of income.

On the glass side of things I generally use sandblasting equipment to carve in to glass and 'frost' designs on to glass I will probably have to continue this way for the glass unless I can be very inventive with cnc lol. I also use hand held engraver on smaller pieces of glass as well (think a cnc may be able to do this)

I also carve stone signs and plaques and have been asked several times for wooden signs. The process of carving in to stone and wood is time consuming and expensive to the purchaser. Some people will still want the hand carved items but if I am to make this my living I will also have to offer the cheaper cnc routed option as well as being able to ramp up production.

I have no experience of using a CNC machine at all but I am quite mechanically minded and have spent many years in IT so I hope I shall be able to adapt.

Now on to what I think I need.

A work area of about 1200 x 1200 would be ideal. may get away with smaller but I do not want to restrict myself too much.
I will be carving both 2D and 3D in both stone (mainly marble) and wood I may also need to cut small aluminium parts for bases for awards etc.
The z height does not need to be over generous but 100mm would be handy.

I would love to be able to build my own machine but looking at some of the builds on the forum there seems to be quite a bit of fabrication of parts required (now if they came in kit form lol) that may be impractical for me.
I have been looking at machines from china that 'seem' to offer great value for money but I have read both good and bad reports on people buying Chinese machines plus the cost of tax and duties has to be taken in to account.

So any advice on a manufacturer of a pre built machine and a specification that would suit my needs would be most helpful, I think that I may require 2 machines as cutting stone and wood will not be able to be done on a single machine, or am I wrong on that point.

As for the software I will need it looks like Mach 3 and a couple of the packages from vectric are what I shall need.

The specs of the machine such as spindle type, machine to PC interface, controllers, steppers v servos, ball screws et al I am just getting more confused

Budget is of course important but I cannot really afford to make a mistake with my choices if this machine is going to provide me with the means to make a living.

I Look forward to hearing your replies.

Thanks in advance

Alan