Dean,
For a commercial machine that has to earn it's keep I'm in complete agreement with you. I'd have gone bankrupt a long time ago if I were mad enough to try and use the machine I've built as part of a business. But for me it's just a toy I have in my shed and I can't justify spending large amounts of money on it for new parts I can probably do without if I apply some time and ingenuity to the problems that arise. With the $AUD currently worth no more than about 60 US cents, prices of most other board options are way too high.

In practice this $20 BOB has done everything I need from it for several years now and the current noise problem is nothing to do with the board itself. I'm actually quite impressed that it worked so reliably before, with NC microswitches to hide the problem, and has proved quite robust as well, not complaining at all when I accidentally put 12V on one of the 5V limit inputs.

Building and modifying the machine and learning from the problems that occur is part of the fun of making it for me, it's hobby in itself, though there is an ever-increasing list of other projects on hold that are waiting for it to be working properly again.