Best CNC Router for the Money

[Dan Hintz]

Consider the spindle needs to be warmed up for about 10 minutes before use... if you're not doing projects all day long, that can be a bit of an annoyance.

[Scott Challoner]

Plus from what I've read, once you start cutting, the noise isn't much less than a router. Personally, I think I would throw my $1800 at the upgrade to Aspire.

[james mcgrew]

pros an cons

A) the camaster is a larger machine
B) i like the small shopbot but for the bucks it is limited
C aint to sure about the buddy
d i own and have enjoyed a bit of sucess with the camaster, (biased)

they (Camaster) just has a doggone excellent machine strong owner support (so does shopbot)

E) the camaster controller is run with the same industrial controller as its big brothers online direct support is minutes away,

found today

http://www.assemblymag.com/Articles/...00000001072967

[james mcgrew]

i have both routers and spindles, a stinger is full capable with the pc router, the spindle is nice yet the noise reduction is only at general spin, when blades cut wood they make noise

period.

[Jerome Stanek]

I have 2 Shopbots one with a spindle and one with a router. Love the spindle you can talk while it is cutting not so with the router. I run a Biesse rover at work it is a pod unit but there is also a there flat table Biesse there also My shopbots do just as nice a job as the Biesses. In fact I get some contract jobs from the company that the Biesses are to hard to program for.

[Keith Outten]

Concerning noise use your hand held router and make a few long straight fast cuts with a 1/4" spiral bit, if you can hear the router motor once you start cutting then the noise level is an issue. If once you start cutting all you can hear is the sound of the bit cutting the material then the argument that a spindle is worth the extra money because it produces a lower sound level just doesn't hold water. Cutting plywood will wake up the dead, cutting PVC is so quiet you can hear a Porter Cable (PC) Router over the cutter so the material you use will have a huge impact on sound levels in your shop.

A spindle is more accurate then a router and it is designed to be run for longer periods of time and it will last longer then a router motor.
The accuracy of a spindle has never been an issue for me based on the kind of work I do, my PC router will produce perfect inlay work when I use the software correctly.
A Porter Cable router motor is cheap to purchase and when you wear one out you toss it and install another one in five minutes. I don't bother replacing the bearings on a router motor that I use on my CNC machine, by the time I wear out the bearings it has paid for itself many many times so I keep a new one on the shelf ready to install and get back to work.

A spindle when it is worn has to be returned to the vendor to be repaired, most don't have the necessary tools or experience to work on their own spindles and most people can't afford to keep a spare on the shelf. When your spindle is at the shop being repaired your CNC machine is not working. If you decide that a spindle is the best choice for your CNC machine heed the warmup procedure if you want the expensive ceramic bearings to last a reasonable length of time.

I run a ShopBot PRT Alpha at CNU every day of the week, it has a spindle.
I run my CAMaster Stinger in my sign business at home, it sees less hours per month but the PC router motor performs well for me. I recently sold my ShopBot PRT Alpha that I replaced with the Stinger II, it worked perfectly for many years using a PC router.

The accuracy of a machine is more than the router motor vs spindle issue, more often than not the quality of the other components has a greater impact on the level of accuracy you can accomplish. Whether you build or buy I suggest you start with a welded frame if you can. A solid frame is the foundation of your machine, a very heavy frame pays off every time you go to work.

There are CNC operators here that run big iron CNC machines which are a world away from the machines that I have used so their comments may be at the opposite end of the spectrum from mine.

There is nothing wrong with buying or building a hobby machine if it suits your needs. The mistake that many people make is purchasing or building a machine that is based primarily on the cost of the machine over performance. You can quickly become dissatisfied with a machine when you change your mind about hobby vs commercial work or you decide that you want to make a hundred pieces rather than just one. If a hobby machine will meet your performance needs then it will be your best value choice over a more expensive machine.
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[Mike Heidrick]

I want to buy something that I can use in a production setting. The goal is to be able to use it everyday and as I am able to grow and maybe make it a full time business not have to trash it. I'm trying to stay in the 7-8k range and be about a 24" x 36" table capacity.

Reading this makes me hope you invest in more than a 24X36 machine. Look into that 408 Cobra. Some day you will thank me for that advice if you truely turn this into a full time business.

[Chuck Gallup]

Consider the spindle needs to be warmed up for about 10 minutes before use... if you're not doing projects all day long, that can be a bit of an annoyance.

What constitutes a proper warm up?
Heat?
Then why not a heat lamp or 100 watt (Now out of production) incandescent bulb burning to keep this warm?

[Brandon MacDougall]

I think as a way to get your feet wet a Carvewright could be a good first CNC machine. The software is some of the best bar none and setting up complex projects a breeze. Only 14.50" wide x 1" deep could be to small for you.

[Gary Campbell]

The purpose of the warmup is to warm the bearings in the spindle and properly distribute the lubrication while under no cutting load. Most users have a warmup routine that takes 5 seconds of input, not 10 minutes. Once started, no operator input or attention should be required.

[james mcgrew]

the spindle warm up is not as crucial as one would expect, best to run it slow at 5-7000 rpms 3-7 min at first startup in the day

jim

[Keith Outten]

The spindle we use on our ShopBot at CNU requires a three stage warm up procedure with sixty seconds running time at each rpm. I make sure to warm up the spindle when it has been inactive long enough to get cold or back to room temperature. After four years of cutting mostly Corian the bearings are still in great shape.

Check your owners manual for the warmup specifications on your machine.
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[Keith Outten]

If you intend to make custom signs you can purchase a CAMaster Stinger II with a 36" by 48" table and make serious money doing ADA work and a host of other types of signs. A ShopBot PRT is also a good machine to consider these days but you can add a CNC lathe to the Stinger for a reasonable bump in price, this will give you lots of additional variety in the types of jobs you can offer customers.

Smart money would be spent on a larger machine like the Cobra because sooner of later you will upgrade if you start to do commercial work. If the price scares you you can go with a less expensive machine and let it make the necessary funds to upgrade later. For the record I can make enough ADA plaques with my Stinger II in two days to keep me busy for almost a month when I work alone on a project.

A sixty year old man can average about ten ADA signs per day at a leisurely pace if he makes them in lots of 120 to 240. The going rate for ADA signs in my neck of the woods is a hundred dollars each minimum in volume. The total cost of a Corian door sign is just under seven dollars each for the material which leaves you $930.00 per day to cover labor, profit and overhead expenses. If you hustle you can make 20 door signs per day but I'm to old to hustle anymore

The magic key to all this is successful marketing, any knucklehead can make ADA signs, even me......
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[Jerome Stanek]

If you do go the ADA make sure you are compliant with their codes. Also the software can be expensive.

[Jerome Stanek]

We don't warm up our Biesse rover pod unit It has a 10.5 HP hsd spindle.