I own several 3D Printers and am pretty proficient at 3DP. I'd like to get into CNC Milling/Machining now. I know the concept of how a CNC works and some of the mechanical complexities involved but I'm not really wanting to design or source parts for my first machine though. I've been looking at a few commercially available entry level machines. Budget 4040's in the 3-400.00 range. I also may have the ability to purchase an stouter 4060 with water cooled spindle and 4th axis for 400-500 in like new condition. I don't really have any reason for a 4th unless its capable of hard metals which I dont know if the 4060 available is capable of. A big part of what I would want to do is cut Foam, Balsa, Light Plywood, Carbon/Glass Composite board, and Aluminum sheets harvested from beverage cans. I'm pretty sure most (even budget entry level machines can do this) I'd really like to cut Aluminum up to 1" but realize that probably needs a sturdier machine for that. Eventually 4 and 5 axis hard metals from near net additive manufactured metal parts but I have to start somewhere. I'm ok with 400-500.00 for a bit more initial capability/machine longevity but would prefer as budget as possible. Here is a link to from what I know is the same router I maybe can get for 4-500.00 the only difference is it has a 800w spindle. Amazon.com the other machine I have looked at is Amazon.com Now the 4060 is considerably more capable I'm sure and would probably last longer. Is it worth the couple hundered more that I could use to buy filament for my 3D printers or whatever? Seems like a maybe a deal I should'nt pass up if I can? Please let me know you're thoughts. Thanks, Brian
you will be spending a lot more than the purchase price on upgrading those machines to make them do what you want. Yet a LEAD machine will 'just do it' with the massive advantage of full support here on the forums and from the store, and since you build it yourself from the kit you know exactly where everything goes and how it works so problem solving is much easier.
