Hi All,

Total newbie, I have recently purchased a 3040 3-Axis router and I think this is for me as far as a hobby. But I am having a hard time deciding "in advance" if the 11" x 15" work area this has is going to be a limiting factor. I'd like to do mainly wall wood carvings for gifts and whatnot but may try to use it to make wooden clocks by scanning in gear plans, if its possible. As its so difficult to cut wooden gears by hand.

The next size up machine, 6040 has about a 15.5" x 22.5" work area but cost almost three times as much as far as I can see. Its a huge step up in price.
As they are not cheap to begin with, I'm just wondering if all that additional money is worth the cost?
As far as people who have been doing this, have you come across a lot of circumstances where 11 x 15 just wouldn't work, and there was no way around say splitting a project on two pieces using the same wood and butting them together.... if this is realistic using software such as MeshCam.

The place I bought the router from will do an exchange, but it will cost an additional $1000. So hard to tell how much you will use something you've never used before and what your needs will be..
Also can't get over the thought that I could buy a whole second 3040 later and still pay less.
Thoughts and experiences?