[JonnyDeath]

There's a ton of kits on ebay for a couple hundred bucks that include all motors and electronics.

I know I'm kind of being "that guy" but I'm really not ignorant on DIY. I'm actually after many years of doing it at the advanced hobbyist's level getting my electronic engineering degree while also trying to get my business up and running as well as balance a thousand other tasks.

I can't see investing the last of my savings along with all I have to sell on dinky Chinese machine that does not even give me a 12 x 12 inch working area.
2 x 2 foot is ideal and Joe's hybrid is a luxurious 4 x 4.
Granted I do need it to etch PCB's and I know some of the larger machines won't quite be suitable.
Ideally, I will want a 4 x 8 foot machine as some point I can fill with copper clad epoxy board to mass produce PCB's for my products.

I have a very promising customer inquiry which I know will lead to many many more. In fact with a machine large enough, I may be able to take our dealings to a much higher level since I won't be limited to just PCB's.

[fixtureman1]

Have you looked at the Mechmate?

[JonnyDeath]

Hi thanks I've seen it.
I've put a lot of years into the DIY research but took the last 3 off. I had such an abundance of information that at one point, I found a builder that did even etched the PCB control circuit and built it. He was building 4 x 8 ft tables for under a grand using MDF for almost everything even the rails the stepper drives navigate on.
I'm sure by the time I'm done with school, I'll be able to the same and much more.

But right now I just want a working unit.
In the future I'll build something like the MechMate or one of the other affordable 4 x 8 foot tables. Mostly what I find with people building DIY is a labor of love. A couple years until the unit is reliable enough to be the backbone of a business and a total cost beyond outright buying a small industrial grade unit.

I need one up and running and will still have to learn the software. Too many of the DIY guys no offense really is intended, have pie in the sky prices. I think pride plays a huge role in pricing themselves right out of business. I can buy a machine capable of doing 32" x 24" working area with water cooling for $1600.00 shipped direct from China with everything to be up and running the same day it arrives.

Based on that I figured by now a DIY builder would be selling something similar for about half the cost.
Zen seems to be the closest and still priced themselves too high IMO.
When the machines can be used to build more machines, you would think 100% complete kits as well as assembled units would be priced to squash the Chinese. They're not.

[handlewanker]

Dear Jon, check out the controllers.......the Chines ones, although cheap, all have the same cheap controller which many people remove in preferance for the Gecko G540 one, but as it cost a lot more, that is where the price escalates.

Many of them also have Acme screw drive which is cheaper than the ball screw....now your up above the 2 grand mark with ball screws and Gecko drive.
Ian.

[JonnyDeath]

Thanks Ian.
I actually went with a Chinese 6040 machine.
The popular water cooled 800 watt spindle model that pops up a lot on youtube and various searches.
One of the owners pointed me towards a controller swap coming out of China which is a raw prebuilt board with a 4th axis stage and it connects through USB to eliminate the serial connecting.

Only about $30 bucks which is not surprising considering all that it consists of, all that is excluded and of course because it's mass produced in China.

I will probably make that upgrade and have not ruled out building a larger machine. I just completed another design tonight that should be a big earner though which if it provides, I will avoid building. I have built, modded and repaired way too much in my seemingly short life and now avoid it when possible.

[jckstrthmghty]

Outsourcing the pcb manufacturing process is probably the best option financially. All the little extras that go with the cnc table add up fast.

I'm interested how this all turns out. I'm somewhat skeptical about cheap electronics since you usually get what you pay for.