May I be Nosey?

[Art Mann]

For those of you who already own a CNC Router, I would really like to know what model or DIY kit you have and what your primary use of it is. I am trying to decide what to buy and how much to spend and this information would be very helpful to me (and probably others).

Thanks so much.

Art

[Bruce Page]

Art, I took delivery of a Camaster Stinger 1 last March as a retirement present to myself. It is a very stout, industrial quality CNC with a 25” X 36” X 5” work envelope. Right now I’m in the learning phase of the machine & software but it has been pretty straight forward to this point. So far, I have just made stuff for my wife, kids and grandkids, but wouldn’t be opposed to making some money with it down the road. The primary reason for buying it however, was to play.

[Keith Outten]

Art,

I own a CAMaster Stinger II with a 36" by 48" table and I have the Recoil Lathe on my router.
I am a sign maker and the majority of my signs are made from Dupont Corian countertop material.

[bobby milam]

I have a shark pro. It's a 24"x24" cnc. It is more of a hobbyist machine than say the cammasters you see above. I think it runs around $3400. I bought it about a year ago and knew nothing about CNCs at the time. Also, just as important as the machine itself is which software you use. I use vectric's vcarve and cut3D. It will do what most of the others will do but will take me much longer to do it.

I'm guessing by your question that you are new to it also. I'll give you some advise. Research and decide what YOU want to be able to do. What kind of space do you have available for one? I want a 4X8 table and I have the room made for it. Do you just want to make things for yourself or do you want to make money with it? Figure out what you want to spend and then decide if you could spend a little more for a better machine. Do you want to build it yourself and save money or do you want it to come in a crate ready to use? Check into other costs associated with the machine. Some will come with the needed accessories included in the price.

Even though I didn't make the wisest choice on my CNC for me, I still love using a CNC. I have a list of things to do with it and never enough time. I started selling things to customers but I have so many projects that I want to do for myself that I have stopped taking any orders. I want to have some time to play with it and make things for myself. They are fun toys if nothing else. I'm only limited by my imagination

[Jerome Stanek]

I have a 48x96 Shopbot I cut a lot of dimensional letters and logos for different sign shops. Also cut trade show displays mostly large items.

[Bruce Page]

That is really nice work Jerome!

[gary l roberts]

Its a big question, one we all went through in the beginning. I have seen 12' x 12' MDF models with a dremal do amazing things. I've seen High Price machines sit idle cause the buyer didn't understand the custom operating system.
Most of us are two machine owners. The first one we learned on... then you either fall out of the game or you go get the second machine. Budget, space, time to learn, are all things you have to work out. Most of us went to bigger most robust machines the second time like the CAMMASTERS you saw here or Shopbots, but there are tons of new machine appearing from all the tool companies. THe net is full of forums so sign up and start learning and read, read, read and then come back and ask questions. The crital part is software, ie try to find a package that will travel to the next machine with you. You'll fine Aspire /vcarve pro a good choice (good forum as well). My input.
Good luck.

[Art Mann]

Thank you all for the responses so far! Bobby is absolutely right. I need to decide what I want to do with it and choose a machine based on that. The responses are helping me to clarify the answer. I started out wanting a hobby machine to enhance my furniture and box building efforts - basically a sophisticated toy. I may still settle for something like that. As I researched the available equipment, I started to think in terms of commercial applications as well. If I go that direction, I will have to raise the requirements considerably. I am a retired electronics manufacturing engineer and I am very familiar with computer controlled manufacturing equipment and technology. My wife is just about to retire as a graphics designer for a printing company. She is looking for a part time money making activity. My son has a degree in industrial design and is wanting to do some moonlighting on the side. It seems that we could collaborate and come up with products and/or services that people would want to buy - - but what? That is my reason for creating the thread.

Like Bobby, I started out looking at machines like the Rockler Shark Pro Plus HD and the General iCarver. I just don't think they are fast or robust enough to use in a commercial setting. Currently, I am looking at machines like the Shopbot Desktop and Buddy, the Laguna iQ CNC and the Camaster Stinger I. I would welcome suggestions for similar equipment from other manufacturers. I have looked at the kits from companies like CNCRouter Parts. I have the skills to build and configure a machine if it will save enough money and perform like a commercial unit. I am not yet convinced of that but would love to hear from commercial users who have built their own CNC router. My choice is constrained by space as well. I have a 24 X 28 foot shop but it is already full of woodworking equipment. I am planning on selling my RAS to make more room.

Bruce and Keith, judging from the photos, you both have beautiful setups. Camaster recommends itself to me for several reasons. They appear to be built to survive a small thermonuclear blast. I read a lot of CNC forums and I have yet to hear from an owner who wishes he had bought another brand. Finally, their location in Cartersville, GA is only about a 1.5 hour drive from our family farm. It is an easy day trip to go there and get a demo or to get parts or service should that become necessary.

Jerome, I appreciate the photos and share Bruce's admiration for your work. I would welcome more pictures or links to pictures of machines and products people have made.

Edit: Gary, I just spotted your response. I am trying to avoid buying a learning machine, only to have to upgrade after a few months or a year.

I have already downloaded demo versions of the Vectric products and ArtCAM express. I understand the methodology fairly well, since I specified, purchased and programmed robotic manufacturing equipment as part of my job as a manufacturing engineer. I don't plan on dealing with the artistic aspects of Aspire or other design software. My wife is well versed in design software such as Adobe illustrator and my son has done 3-D modeling using Rhino and SolidWorks. I will leave the design to them.

[AL Ursich]

A possible Stepping Stone is to look at the CarveWright HOBBY machine to learn some CNC basics for around $2K. I know it is not the question you asked.... but it meets my needs. Yes, the machine does have limitations, I have learned to work around them for the price... I use it or them in my business to make signs and cut plastic stock for tags I make.

CarveWright has a Forum that gives you a feel for what is possible at that price. Use the money made from the CW to buy a big machine.

Good Luck,

AL

[Art Mann]

Early on, I looked at the Carvewright and watched a local demo. It will do some impressive work. I finally ruled it out because of the proprietary nature of the software. If I am going to buy a learning machine, I want to learn to use industry standard software so I can migrate my skill set to different machines easily.

[Ross Moshinsky]

I finally pulled the trigger on a CNC Router Parts 9648 machine. I found one local which I picked up. Everything you read about them is more or less true. It's a quality light industry router. I went back and forth between the 4848 and the 9648 but I had the room for the 96 so I decided to go for it. I didn't want to be in the position where I had to turn jobs down because my machine was too small. Maybe a year or two from now I'll change my mind and buy something more industrial that is smaller, but for right now, I think it's a good choice.

Personally, I wouldn't buy or build a machine that didn't have at least 4ft of cutting on the Y axis. Being able to process sheet goods easily is something you can always fall back on with a CNC router. To take away that ability just seems foolish to me.

[AL Ursich]

Early on, I looked at the Carvewright and watched a local demo. It will do some impressive work. I finally ruled it out because of the proprietary nature of the software. If I am going to buy a learning machine, I want to learn to use industry standard software so I can migrate my skill set to different machines easily.

Sounds like a Great Plan.

Good Luck,

AL

[Brandon MacDougall]

I want to learn to use industry standard software so I can migrate my skill set to different machines easily.

I feel this is a open statement in a way, Carvewright software is more advanced and powerful then a lot of software I tested. Most designers or artist have to be able to use two or thee software programs. An example if I was to design a carved top guitar I have a very hard time just using Aspire but could do it in the Carvewright software and export to Aspire same with Rhino or Lightwave 3D. I think one of the Aspire free project Designers manly uses Corel. I been asking LHR to make a Copy of Designer that will run machines like CamMaster and it looks like this will happen soon. Having said this I also looking to upgrade my CNC's to a CamMaster soon.

[Art Mann]

From what I saw, the Carvewright software makes the creation of 3-D relief carvings easy. I hope they can put out a version that is of more universal application.

[Sam Harbold]

I have an 48" x 96" ShopBot that I bought new in 1999. We use our machine mostly for architechural millwork. 98% of this we do in PVC material (Versatex, Azek)
ShopBot.JPGGable Bracket.jpgPeak Bracket.jpgColumn Base.jpgPVC Half Round Louver.jpg0552.jpg0563.jpgOval Window.jpg