Quote Originally Posted by Neale View Post
...and there is also the point that the first C in CNC stands for computer! To do anything with a CNC machine, you are going to have to get your design into the machine, and that means CAD in some form or other. You could just write gcode directly - the way it used to be done - but it's easier to learn a CAD package! Plenty of choices, but don't want to make any recommendations as a lot depends on what you want to do (2D/3D) and how happy you feel with complicated-but-powerful versus easy-but-limited.
That's a very good point you won't be able to do much with an Xcarve if you can't make your cad models then generate the Gcode. Really cracking CAD before buying a machine makes the most sense as you might be able to buy a 2nd hand one cheap if you keep an eye on ebay for the next couple of months. Be it X carve, homebuilt or a Chinese 6040 machine.

I remember your first posts about getting a 3d printer before delving into CNC I think it would be a good idea coupled with Fusion you can get reasonable working Prusa for ~£200 sometimes even less.

And if you spend a month with a 3d printer you'll be thinking that making a cnc router is not so hard. When I first thought about making a cnc router I thought it'd to be some weird impossible voodoo but the 3d printer demystified the process a lot. Now I'm getting close to the end of my build it really wasn't so hard if I had the cash all in one go I could have done it all in about 8 weeks in the end it will have took about 18 weeks lol.

I think the hardest part so far was driving almost 400 miles on a Sunday through hellish roadworks to buy a jig which was full of Hiwin rails and then stripping the rails out as every bolt was locktited in :( I ended up hammering oversized torque bits it to crack the locktite as every bolt rounded immediately lol. The 2nd hardest part was the CAD which got stressful.