New to CNC - machine ideas to fit needs and budget.

[JAZZCNC]

Thanks for the reply - It will be mainly for wood work. That is my main thing. I've made a few end grain chopping boards and have seen some incredible inlay work created hence looking into CNC. The work area is therefore rather important. At least 24" x 18". Metal work is initially not on my radar, but never say never.

It's interesting to hear your opinions on the machine I linked to. Just for my own info, why do you not consider it suitable for aluminium?

Hi,

I will answer your question regards why it's not suitable for aluminum and to be quite honest why it's only just suitable for cutting wood, and to be honest, I'd question its ability on very hardwoods.

Aluminum requires a stiff frame and to a lesser degree so does hardwoods to cut correctly and to a decent standard and this machine is seriously weak in some key areas like the flimsy gantry and Z-axis which need to be stiff otherwise you get deflection which causes chatter at the tool resulting in a very poor finish and at best excessive tool wear, at worst broken tools.
That machine and it's gantry / Z-axis is only just strong enough to be used as a Plasma machine on which there are no cutting forces with only inertia to deal.

Then you have other details like using low-quality round type rail poorly fastened (missing bolts) to unprepared surfaces etc, I could go on and on to be fair but I won't because of these 2 key areas alone and the poor quality components should be enough to put anyone who is serious about not wasting money off.

This machine needs to be avoided at all cost's IMO and I say that not because I sell machines, because, in all honesty, I don't need to push or call names to sell my machines, I say it because I truly mean it and wouldn't like to think someone had bought one and it had not been said by experienced builder like me.

I'm currently in the process of designing a machine, which I'm very close to finishing, that I'm hoping will meet budgets of people like your self in the 2-3K bracket that will give a solid and stable base machine that will cut most materials up to aluminum to a good standard and use decent quality components like profiled linear bearings and ball screws etc.

Obviously there will have to be some things compromised at this price range and these will be on the electrical side of things. So it will be basic electronics which will be reasonable quality and sized correctly but a lower spec and just running off the parallel port.
However, these will be more than good enough to run the machine in a Hobby environment and which at a later date can be easily upgraded if required.

The main emphasis will be placed on mechanical strength and capability to cut correctly and give a solid foundation for any future upgrades if so desired.

If you want to get in touch regards me building a machine drop me a PM.