Hello to everybody! My name is Peter and I am an CNC enthusiast. I rebuilt chinese cnc machines, using only their body construction. The job that I do with those machines is milling and engraving stone slabs - like granite, marble, limestone and etc.


A friend of mine is building different kinds of machines and he is going to build me a new cnc machine with my financial and physical help. The CNC will have forth axis - "A". So my question is:

- Should I make the machine with mach3, because of the customization possibilities and the third party software that you can install on the windows pc, or should I choose something else.

He told me that we can use DSP, Syntec, or Mach. He is more of a mechanic and less software guy. But he helps me a lot.

So to make it more clear.

What controller should I use for 4 axis cnc and should I use mach3 or maybe mach4 just for the customization that I can always make or should it be something else? Of course we are talking for cheap solutions...

Hope that I wrote it understandable.

Thank you all in advance!