My first post!
I would like to start off by thanking everyone that has contributed to CNCZONE, your contributions have made this my cnc project possible! I have been stalking this site for a few years and have finally given in and purchased my machine.
I was split between Joes hybrid and the CNCROUTERPARTS kit. I went with the CNCRP kit for a few reasons: ease of assembly, less time, and fewer tools are required. I think that the CNCRP route may cost a little more IF you don't make mistakes building the joes hybrid. As I have learned in previous projects mistakes can be costly so I really wanted to minimize them (obviously) and I thought the CNCRP kit looked much simpler than the alternative. The time aspect was probably the largest driving factor, I have little free time and did not want to have to re invent anything and I did not have the metal working tools needed for the joes linear rail solutions.
As for the Nema 23 decision. Back about a year ago I though I would start of with the shapeoko.... long story short..... I purchased a gecko g540 for the shapeoko, a bit overkill but I thought I could later use it on something else. Well the shapeoko project was never complete as I was unhappy with the setup, but I was left with the g540. The price for the Nema 23 without the g540 was enough that I decided to just go with the nema 23s. Cory at CNCRP told me that I would be able to upgrade to the 34s later with only a few small hardware changes, so If I ever make a few coins with this thing I will upgrade to the 34s in the future.
I purchased everything from CNCRP except the g540
CNCRP PRO 48X48 kit
Nema 23 motors
cables for the motors
cable track kit
auto z touch plate
mach 3
proximity switches
bosch 1617 router mount
So to the Build, I ordered the kit back at the end of February and have recently just started building it.