Just starting out - quick question

[Wal]

My question, I note from his steps that he chose to make certain parts on another CNC router (small parts like mounts etc) and this seems very common on a lot of builds. Do you think it would be a smart move to buy a cheap small footprint router on ebay (the Chinese ones) for this purpose and then sell it again? I figure it wouldnt depreciate too much and I could at least learn how to use a CNC first. Or do you think it would be better to try and pay somebody to make them for me?

Personally speaking - I'd get it designed, work out what bits are needed and then have a machine shop fabricate 'em. Half the battle will be finding a shop that wants to take on a small job, but they're out there - you can always post a request on here too. Looking at the link you posted, a small cheap Chinese machine isn't going to be much help with your build and will likely cost you nearly as much as the fabrication involved. If you look at my build (pic attached) those plates cost me £200 to get drilled at a local shop. Top job, accurate and ready to assemble. You just need to plan ahead and get all the details right. A purist might say 'well, you haven't built it yerself..' - pff, I'd still be worrying about how accurately I could get the holes drilled. Sometimes you just need to pay the man and get the job done right!

Wal.