Hi there, my name is Nelson Almeida, I live in Portugal and my first contribution to this forum will be a question. I hope I choose the right sub-forum to make it and I'm sorry if this question seems to basic. I've done some navigation on the forum and I'm a little lost, that's why I decided to post this.

I do model railroading as a hobby and I scratchbuild most of my structures, I have plenty of electronics knowledge some mechanics and some 3d software knowledge, I'm a diy kind of guy and for me part of the challenge is in building something, so while I need a cnc machine for my railroading projects I also like the challenge of building it myself, I've seen lot's of plans and kits around but since I belong to some RR forums I learned a long time ago the best way to get somewhere is talk with the pros.

So, I'm looking for a small cnc design, something around 8" x 8" and around 1" deep capable. Usually I make my parts and cast them in resin later so I don't need something fast or metal capable, what I need is precision and something that has the lowest kerf(?) possible, I mean something that can work with the smallest bits available and "eats" as low as possible. Something that could carve wood, wax and possibly styrene.

I'm looking at two main possibilities, scratch build or kit build so I would like to ear your opinions.

Thanks in advance guys