[Rocketman]

If you have the money it's a no brain choice to go with the "works out of the box" machine rather than the bubble gum and bailing wire version of a cnc. If you don't have the money I'd suggest start saving to buy the Tormach rather than waste your money on something I'm sure won't work out of the box if ever. If you like the "Heathkit" version of a cnc, then by all means buy a Shopmaster product and learn how they tick while you kill off endless hours trouble shooting various problems on a machine that was supposed to work out of the box. You may get it working or it may end up a pile of parts like many of the Heathkit projects of yesterday. Many great electronics wiz kids cut their teeth on the do it yourself projects sold by Heathkit.

[GITERDUN]

Interesting analogy. I remember those Heathkits too, and you are right many of them simply ended up in the attic. The guys who did manage to build one went on to become Steve Jobs or Bill Gates, while those who couldn't finish went on to be- well- nobody. Pretty much the same in the tool business, you have some guys doing great things with their machines and others just endlessly wringing their hands.

[BlackICE1]

If you have the money it's a no brain choice to go with the "works out of the box" machine rather than the bubble gum and bailing wire version of a cnc. If you don't have the money I'd suggest start saving to buy the Tormach rather than waste your money on something I'm sure won't work out of the box if ever. If you like the "Heathkit" version of a cnc, then by all means buy a Shopmaster product and learn how they tick while you kill off endless hours trouble shooting various problems on a machine that was supposed to work out of the box. You may get it working or it may end up a pile of parts like many of the Heathkit projects of yesterday. Many great electronics wiz kids cut their teeth on the do it yourself projects sold by Heathkit.

Funny analogy that isn't far from the truth. I'm old enough to remember Heathkit. My father built an amp and tuner kit from them, running vacuum tubes of course.