[kosymailman]

I have recently retired and am looking to purchase a cnc machine for my wood workshop. I really don't know enough about one to say what I even want one for. I am not wanting to make a living with the machine. If it helped pay for itself that would be even better. I am very comfortable using a computer and power tools.

I used to make kitchen cabinets before I went to work for the place I retired from so I might possibly get back into some type of cabinet making. There is a fair size cabinet shop in my town that does all of his work with regular power tools(no cnc). Maybe I could subcontract some work for him?

My wife owns a flower and gift shop. Maybe I would be able to make some items for her to sale in her shop?

I have been looking around the forums and I think I have decided on either a 4x8 Shopbot or DynaCNC with a 3+ hp router. I would appreciate any comments (positive or negative) about either of these machines. If you own one of these machines or have seen one operate, let me know what you think.

I think I can upgrade to spindle later if I need to. What would be the overall cost of a spindle if I bought it now compared to the cost of upgrading later?

thanks for your help,

[PowerCNC4u]

I own a DynaCNC machine www.dynacnc.com. They have been great to work with and my machine has been making me money for over 9 months now. No Complaints at all. It does great 3D machining. I know they have several different size tables that should meet any need. They even put colombo spindles on their machines. I highly recommend them to anyone.

Sid

[Switcher]

Just curious, is that the Mach Control that they run on their machines?

Link:
http://www.dynacnc.com/Userfiles/Spindlescreen.jpg





.

[puzzleman20]

I bought an older 4'x8' shopbot (PR96) that was in non-working order this past winter and have had a ball playing with it. It is very simple to work on and understand. OEM parts are abundant and it is very easy to ingrate non-OEM parts into the machine. Shopbot includes some great software with their new machines and offers additional software packages for cabinetmaking, signs, engraving, and has a great forum for questions, ideas, whatever. I have never used a DynaCNC so I have no point of comparison for them, but I do 3 and 5-axis programming on a Thermwood and a CIS machine at my real job and anything I do at work on 3-axis, I can do at home on my Shopbot. There is a lot of value in your dollar with a Shopbot.

[PowerCNC4u]

Just curious, is that the Mach Control that they run on their machines?

Link:
http://www.dynacnc.com/Userfiles/Spindlescreen.jpg





.

Yes they use Mach3

[kosymailman]

Thanks for the replies. This is what I'm looking for. Surely there are more owners of dynacnc or shopbot that have some good info they could share.

thanks

[Drassk]

You can find a lot of shopbot owners at the shopbot forums. They seem like a pretty happy crowd. I've never seen any posts from dyna owners that didn't reek heavily of being written by an employee, but to be fair I don't think I've heard anything negative, either.

A router is something like 10-15% of the cost of a spindle so you're really just out the cost of a router VS getting a spindle at the start. I do know that the routers tend to wear out reasonably fast if you're doing much cutting at all, though, and the cutting head is a small portion of the total cost of a machine and yet is the most important part. For my money, it's like trying to save money on a sports car by running cheap tires.

[Torchhead]

Dunno much about the current ShopBot products but their earlier models left a lot to be desired in the areas of smooth cuts and reliable software. Check this site out.
http://www.custom-cnc.com This company was originally in the custom sign business and used ShopBots for several years. In order to make them truely functional they made many modifications and retrofits. The result is the product line you see. The owner knows more about ShopBot machines than most of the factory guys. I do know they (Custom-CNC) are swamped with orders from ShopBot owners.

The Constant Velocity feature of MACH3 should not be underestimated. That combined with microstepping drives provides nice smooth arcs and circle cuts that allude the ShopBot machines.

It's hard to compare the two since ShopBot has been building machines for several years and has advertised everywhere. They have sold thousands of machines. At the time they were the least expensive router solution on the market and the owners overlooked the flaws because the alternative was 2 to three times as expensive. Companies like DynaCNC have only been shipping their machines for a little over a year so they don't have the installed base. I will say that the markets are somewhat different. Most of the ShopBot machines have been sold to individuals whereas the new crop of lower cost CNC routers are finding a market into commercial accounts.

There are lots of alternatives and you need to do plenty of research before you plunk down your $$$$. Know the differences and understand the value of the control software. I don't think the current ShopBot controller can be used with anything but their software (?). Their controller software seems to be a source of problems and still does not support CV (confirm what I am saying since it's all heresay on my part). Find someone that has used their newer controller and software then upgraded and find out why.

[kosymailman]

Am soaking in the info.

thanks guys

[gregrnel]

I can't say I'm all that happy about the way I was treated as a DynaCNC customer, I paid a couple hundred dollars in shipping for exchanging parts that were DOA on my machine. Tech support was amatuer-ish IMHO, but I am a newbie. Who knows, maybe they're all like this in this price range. :tired:

[PowerCNC4u]

Well all I can say is that DynaCNC has treated me great. All of the companies have their problems. They have helped me with my questions and helped me get started when I was a newbie. DynaCNC is a great company to work with.

Sid

[gregrnel]

You probably had a machine that worked great right out of the crate. I did not have a working machine out of the crate and they basically treated me like I was the problem. When it finally came time for them to admit that my machine was a lemon from the get go, I had to ship everything but the table back to them....at my expense. I don't know about you, but anytime you get a new product that is DOA, especially a piece of equipment that you paid thousands for, you shouldn't have to pay to get it right.

On a positive note, it is a good solid table and works well now, but I probably will go elsewhere in the future if I buy another table in the sub $15K price range.

Well all I can say is that DynaCNC has treated me great. All of the companies have their problems. They have helped me with my questions and helped me get started when I was a newbie. DynaCNC is a great company to work with.

Sid

[brianh]

I have a shopbot PRT 96 bought new in 2003 so far I am very happy with it.
They have a great forum and any problems I have had were promptly resolved
customer service is great.
Currently I am running a milwalkee 3 1/2 horse router on it the milwalkee is quieter than the porter cable router a router will give a surprising amount of hours before it needs to be rebuilt.
It is a basic easy to work on machine I am satisfied with mine.

[Launch]

I have lots customers that use both of these machines and have not heard anything negative about either one of them. They both seem to run well without any problems.

Brett
[email protected]