Robert,
You should definitely investigate the limitations of the CW (and Sears version) before purchasing one and also other options available. There are various commercial machines as well as kits. If you are a woodworker and can do some simple wiring you could even build a machine yourself out of wood or even aluminum extrusion; I built an aluminum framed machine a couple summers ago. The nice thing about most other machines is that you can use the design software that best suits you and that will totally control every aspect of the job: speed, depth of cut, number of passes, etc.; for instance, Vectric VCarve Pro is a real nice product and fairly user friendly at a reasonable cost (reasonable being a bit relative to the cost to buy/build a machine).
You should thoroughly evaluate what it is that you believe you will be doing and what kind of space you have available. I built one with ~18x50" cut capability, but most of my projects would have fit in around 12x18 or maybe less and really wish I would have started with a smaller machine due to the amount of space this one takes up. See if you can find a local(ish) mentor to visit and talk to; I was at a crossroads of whether I wanted to build one or not, after visiting a fellow in Tulsa, I was sold and started acquiring obvious parts and doing the heavy duty self-evaluation, research, budgeting, and drawing plans.
Also, you might want to look around on CNCZone to learn about various commercial and DIY machines, lots of valuable resources there.
Roy
Roy
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G.Weike 80W LG900N 600x900mm laser
LaserCut 5.3, CorelDraw 12, Inkscape, TurboCAD 19
Homemade 3-axis 18x51" CNC router
Vectric Aspire 8, PhotoVCarve, Mach 3
EurekaZone track saw system