My son finally showed some interest in a CNC machine for home/hobby use (generally anything I am interested in he is not - still looking for a fishing buddy if anyone is interested!) . So I am looking to pounce on his interest and jump in to the CNC slippery slope.
I have had my eye on 2 different brands and would like to solicit some feedback on whether I am on the right track or should I reconsider for Inventables and Shapeoko. I have my eye on Onefininty CNC and the X-50 model. That gives a decent 32"x32" envelope and seems like a solid machine. My "money's not a factor" machine is Avid CNC - seems Avid has stopped selling their Standard versions and now only have Pro versions on their website. It seems that the budget for a decent machine is in the $4500-$7500 range. Should I be considering any other vendors Next Wave? or any others. I realize that I am soliciting opinions and they are subjective - but looking for selection criteria I have not considered. The one detraction from Onefinity is their website says not compatible with spindles - I'd like to maybe start with a router and graduate to a water cooled spindle if only for the reduced noise and run times.
I'm going to start doing the usual signs and other 2D stuff - but would like to graduate to more complex projects. I plan on VCarve Pro and my son is a BSME with CAD/Solidworks experience. So hopefully we have that end figured out.
Many Thanks
Martin