I had no budget to speak of, no garage space, and very little spare time. But I decided to plunge into the CNC hobby, and I'm glad I did!
Here is my setup...
- A tabletop CNC machine I bought on eBay; looks like Zen Toolworks but I could be wrong;
- A TB6560-based stepper controller;
- A PWM controller for the spindle motor;
- An old PC running Mach3 and CamBam;
- A small assortment of drills, mills, routers and V-cutters.
The machine is precise enough to carve printed circuit boards, and sturdy enough to cut aluminum (if you are not in a hurry).