Quote Originally Posted by Michael Burnside View Post
How old is the machine? 12K seems pretty steep for a used machine considering new is 15K for a 5x10. Unless the machine was lightly used by a hobbyist, I’d expect less than 10K. Please note, you can move and industrial machine no problem, turn it on and hit the ground running, but moving that AVID will require you to redo many setup steps, re-tramming, etc. Same goes for when you resize the bed.

I do think AVID is a good idea for you considering you don’t know if CNC will be a viable addition to your business. While lighter duty, they are well thought out. If it does take off, then you can move to something more capable like CAMaster, ShopSabre, etc. For commercial use, AVID is just too light duty and 4HP is a little low for maximizing machine time and being able to run fast.
It is a year old, and he has used it very little. Landed cost new was $16k with options. It has been in a climate controlled garage/workshop. He has used it once or twice a month. He did some slab flattening and cut some cabinet parts for his own home, as well as playing around with making shop jigs. The price includes lots of tooling, computer, monitor, software, etc. It's plug and play. There is a good bit of tooling included. He wanted to grow his home business, and he just hasn't used it like he thought he would. He is selling to pay for a sliding saw that he will get more use out of. I would classify him as a hobbyist transitioning to a part-time professional. He does amazing work- I'm just saying as far as time spent- woodworking is a side gig for him out of his garage.

I am aware that it's a little low powered for a production machine, but right now we really wouldn't be pushing it very hard. Primarily we will be cutting simple cabinet parts and I want to experiment with art pieces like parametric wall hangings. Cabinets are not our main business, but they pay the bills, and when your biggest customer wants cabinets- you make cabinets. Part of the justification for this machine is that we are going to use it to cut hinge holes and shelf pins and not buy a hinge and line boring machine. I really don't mind if I have to wait for parts to be cut, i.e. slower cutting speeds and not cutting full depth in one pass. For me, just throwing a sheet on and having the machine do the work allows me to work on other projects, no matter how fast or slow the machine cuts. Again, cabinets aren't the bulk of our business, but I need to speed up that process. I also am working with some restaurant groups and expect to be making solid table tops and flatten them on the CNC as well as cut any round or odd-shaped tables.

I see it as also opening up opportunities for making shop jigs. For example- building a serpentine cabinet with curved doors. I need jigs to laminate the doors. Cut those jigs on the CNC. Cut the top on the CNC. I can still build a beautiful cabinet and it will still be hand made, but save a lot of time on building the jigs.

I also want to get a 3D scanner, as I mentioned earlier, and use it to replicate carvings and rosettes in old homes. (Not extremely complicated carvings- just matching old trim and adornments.) Arched door parts also come to mind. I have an arched door project in the works, and either cutting parts or making jigs on the CNC would be worthwhile.

I see it paying for itself rather quickly if I get the Avid. Getting a more production capable machine would require me to work the CNC more, i.e. maybe start doing signs and other CNC specific things to justify the cost, and I'm not trying to become a CNC shop- just improve the process for what I'm doing now.

Sorry for rambling- just trying to give an idea of use and expectations. I see it as making me more productive and more competitive. I feel like it's a safe gamble with the Avid- I can at least make that much back. If I decide I should have gone bigger, I can sell it and put that money towards a more robust machine. Still kicking myself for passing on the one that sold at auction. (sigh)