Hey everyone, long time lurker (been reading info on here since sometime in 2013) finally contributing a little bit. I'm an engineer who's worked in a few different industries, currently working as an optomechanical engineer designing fiber lasers. I'm a tinkerer and am interested in nearly any type of manufacturing, but most of what I do at home is welding and machining.
I've got a Precision Matthews PM940CNC, which I originally bought to make some custom watches. I got one of Matt's first batch in 2015 -- I'm not sure if he's even selling a CNC line anymore based on his site. It has now been completely disassembled twice, first to move into a basement, then to move into the garage of my new house, seen here:
I paid $7,200 for it, so I think there's some good value in it (pricing is basically identical to Tormach 770, and less than the 1100). It has a cutting volume of 3.5 cubic feet (X-23" ,Y-14", Z-19"), which is a little bit more than twice the PCNC1100's, although a lot of that is in Z and is often not useful. It has a 1.5HP geared spindle motor and is setup to run at 3,000 RPM max from the factory. The axes motors are steppers, running double nut ballscrews. The machine itself weighs about 900 pounds (not including the control box or the stand).
Basically the only 'upgrade' these things comes with is an auto-oiler (which doesn't do the Z-axis ways, for that matter). I've been designing upgrades for it for a long time now, and have really just gotten into the meat of them. So far, I've completed adding an enclosure to it:
I'm currently working on installing a hydraulically actuated power drawbar and a belt drive motor suitable for higher RPM. Both projects are largely done and just waiting for installation, I'll add some pictures as I progress.
Feel free to pop any questions you may have my way.