need help with purchase

new to the cnc world, but have been lurking for some time.

in the hardwood woodworking industry, and have need for a cnc router. think a 2x3 or 3x4 is enough table for our projects. looking for a decent package in the sub $15 - 20k range. will be designing most of our own builds.

trying to sort all of the features that may matter. and those that make sense for quality and service.

would build one if for myself, but this is for another business so looking for a turn key operation.

one area unknown to me are the software needs. in my understanding you will need one sw package to draw (cad), another to convert that dwg to the machines language (?), and a possible third to convert those commands to the specific drive commands (?). again, I don't know. there seems to be as many software packages out there as there are cnc's.

in a turn key system I would expect to receive all of that software already debugged, and operational. so my question is, which ones are the desirable ones to draw with? ease of operation? smallest/quickest learning curve, etc...?

any help on this OR any recommendations on a machine is greatly appreciated. thanks in advance.

Look at Camaster, Shop Sabre, or ShopBot.

Hi Tim

Have you found your machine?
I just saw your post so I might be late to the party....
I got myself a Legacy Maverick that has 3 + 2 axis and allows you to do superquick spindle work as well. The worktable is setup for 2'x3' but you can also set it up 3'x5. I got the machine this spring but haven't had much time to spend with it due to changes in my life. I will move to Europe beginning of 2018. Instead of taking the machine with me I might consider selling as well.
If you like to know more just let me know.

Volkhard

I'm not sure what you plan on building but I would double the table size for what you need right now because odds are you'll need the extra cutting area sooner or later, plus with a larger table you can load and cut multiple smaller parts or projects at the same time.

I see Camaster has a 49” X 98 ” X 6” table starting at $17,000 that includes Vectric VCarve Pro Design Software which sells for $700 on it's own.

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