New maker toy

That is not cheap. It’s almost the cost (when loaded) of a Tormach…

The Tormach rep at Maker Faire told me it would be around $10K to put together a usable setup. If it can be done it for that much less, I’m tempted. (But not really, I don’t have the room)

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Here are the packages. The $10K is fully loaded (every option). Yeah, the size and weight are a bigger issue in my house.

https://www.tormach.com/store/index.php?app=ecom&ns=catshow&ref=PCNC440_preconfig_packages

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I think the price estimate I got was from the “I’m not set up for air and coolant and probably don’t have the right power… and a bunch of other stuff I don’t even know I need. So what would it really cost to equip my garage with a PCNC assuming I have no prerequisites” perspective.

My Son set up a CNC plasma rig in his garage and needed power, the electrician recommended a dedicated ground. That was an 8’ copper rod run into the ground.
The details ($) can sneak up on you.

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Nothing is cheap in the UK! At the time (2012) I could have built one from scratch for about £1000 but I needed it quickly as I had an immutable deadline. It was supposed to be delivered in 2 working days and it was actually about a month. Nothing compared to GF but a nightmare at the time!

I managed to make my deadline but only by not sleeping and with some help from a friend.

It paid for itself very quickly though and has paid for the GF as well.

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Um, I don’t see spouse-pacification in your budget. You buy a CNC that requires air and power update to your shop and can cut thick steel, you definitely need to assuage your spouse…

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Houses around here used to require those for lightning rods. You can get those at Home Depot near me…

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CNC mill: $6000
Electrical upgrades: $1000
Required accessories: $3000
New place to sleep after explaining that we no longer have a place to park the car: priceless

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If your projects are fairly small you might consider a Taig mill and/or their lathe. They are each around $2.5k and run on 120 VAC and have pretty good re-sale value should you decide to upgrade to larger tools later. If you have never machined before, though, you might find it useful to start with manual machine tools as those let you get a feel for how a cut is proceeding so you can immediately slow down or stop if something doesn’t feel right. By the time you realize a cut is wrong on a CNC mill or lathe you might well have already broken the cutter or plunged the cutter into your table or chuck.

The Tormach 440 runs on 120 VAC, by the way, so you probably don’t need any special power considerations in your garage for that. It’s fairly easy to move a 440 to a basement if you have that option. My wife and I did that with their much larger 1100 CNC mill about 9 years ago though my back wouldn’t be up to it today.

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Wow, my wife would look at me derisively and say something like “I’m not feeding your addiction…”

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Ammunition for when she want’s you to go shopping with her… :grimacing:

At the mall, there are benches scattered around. One had an engrave brass tag on it that said “Dedicated to the men who lost the will to live while waiting on their wives to finish shopping”.

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The two women in my house have expensive hobbies too, and I get to literally feed their addictions… At least I am only eating filament and end-mills…

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Ouch. I feel for you. Horses are second only to yacht racing in terms of the cost of the sport.

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I don’t know…fishing and hunting can rank right up there too. :confounded:

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Until you get into custom shotguns & rifles you aren’t even close to the 6 figures competitive dressage or jumper equine sports will take from your wallet :slightly_smiling_face:

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Yes to the custom guns, (and rods)…he’s 6’5"…everything has to be customized to fit.

It’s fishing for Peacock bass in Brazil, salmon in Portland (or wherever the heck he went last time),and hunting for dove in Argentina…and he also has to spring for the clients he takes…it adds up.

(I used to be thankful he didn’t golf…now I’m not so sure it wouldn’t have been cheaper.)

I guess dressage is probably higher…but not by much at the level he has to entertain. :smirk:

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Yeah, I thought scuba was expensive. No, it’s getting there. :palm_tree:

Great picture Henry!

My friends just bought a new horse for Hunter Jumper - $70,000 and they had to hire a specific trainer and board him at a specific stable…

Sheesh.

I shoot (instructor as well) but I keep my gun purchases to low 4 figures :slightly_smiling_face: I can’t imagine buying a horse and having some tell me who can train it and where it can live.

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Uh, yeah! You win! (70 grand for a horse?) :hushed:

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