Nicest CNC I can get for $3,698.00?

If you are willing to build it yourself I can recomend Inventables.com X-carve. It is easy to build and easy to do modifications on. You must however be willing to thinker a little bit.
I am very happy with mine, but do your research in their forum on what changes you want to do. Good supportive community with great company behind it.

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I am waiting for the Glowforge still but about 4 months ago I purchased a CNC Shark from Next Wave Automation. It runs a little more than what your range but is an amazing machine. I paid $4000 for it. It has 7” Z axis, 36 x 28” XY with 25”x25” useable. It comes with Vcarve Desktop and you can tile with that program to make engraves/cuts longer than the bed. Depending on what you intend to do with it you will need to buy specific bits for carving/engraving/cutting. Here are some pictures of things I have made on it:

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Wow, I love the dolphins! One day I need to carve a set for myself.

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I have made quite a few of them. After using lasers before, learning to use a CNC has a bit of a learning curve. Understanding what I can and can’t do with each bit took a little time and a lot of reading/research but didn’t take long to figure it out and still have a lot to learn. I do need both the CNC and the laser for the stuff I want to do though.

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I was going to ask if you were another boat sailor but there it is in your avatar. 640 class STS a very long time ago myself.

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I am STS as well. Headed to my 4th boat in a couple of months. Nothing but 688’s for me.

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Beautiful work, can’t wait to see what you will do on your GF

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Thanks, the Shark looks worth looking further into as well.

I would look at the benifits of the pendant. I really like the fact that I do not have to have my CPU in my shop with all the dust. It allows you to put all your toolpaths on a thumb drive and then load them via the pendant as needed. There are some out there that still require a direct connection to the CPU and as much dust as I produce in my shop I would go through a new computer fast. Just something to think about.

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Look into the MPCNC. I built mine for like $300, and I built it for a 6" Z, 4’ X, 4’ Y.

You COULD go for a full 4 x 8 sheet build envelope, but you’d have to SERIOUSLY beef up the rails and support. It’s been done, but I didn’t need that size build volume.

It’s freakin’ sweet.

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Thanks, this is another interesting suggestion. I have considered going the DIY route, and I do enjoy building things but it seems often the kit or DIY options seem to suffer in the reliability, ease of use and consistency depts. I do have some concerns with having to constantly fiddle with the hardware and software to keep it working properly , but on the other hand, something like this might be a good first step into the world of CNC carving and would definitely teach me a lot.

I will definitely keep you Pendant suggestion in mind. Thanks for the insight :slight_smile:

I haven’t had to mess with mine since I built it a year ago. Works every time I fire it up.

Thanks for all the feedback, I actually learned quite a lot as a result of this thread. By some luck, or at least I hope this machine is as good of value as It appears to be, I have located a very solidly DIY built 53" x 27" x5" Z located in Canada and I will be saving a good bundle over the other options I was considering. Steep learning curve ahead…But I’m stoked to be getting to work on new ideas over the winter!

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