Isn't CNC machinery too expensive for the average shop?

[bhavyamachine]

Isn't CNC machinery too expensive for the average shop?

[elanjacobs]

The big industrial machines are too expensive, but there are many small hobby machines that are well within the budget of a home user, not to mention the homemade machines out there.

[Master Splinter]

Your entry price for something made from MDF and aluminium angle and roller skate bearings is about $500, plus any old PC you have hanging around; that's a lot cheaper than many woodworking machines. Check out YouTube, there are heaps of people who have built their own machines; there's even a thread here - https://www.woodworkforums.com/f170/junkbot-123715 of a CNC made with car timing belts, scrap steel and other dump finds.

[Albert]

if you can make $ out of it, its not a question of expensive or not... its about return period...

[Robson Valley]

We just had our regional district Christmas Craft fair. Pottery, weaving, wood work, preserves, all kinds of things.

People from the next town had added a CNC Laser (Carbon Dioxide) to their shop for doing large signs. They discovered
a source of all kinds of patterns for puzzles, toys, snow flakes and so on, cut out of 3mm baltic birch plywood.
Six snowflakes, maybe 10cm, for $20 or $4 each. Judging by the line-up at their table, they did very, very well.

Albert has the right idea: make money.

[econ]

The machinery is but one aspect.

The potential monetary sink hole is in the software and tooling. To say nothing of the learning curve if starting from scratch.

Cad/CAM/machine operating system/computer+os/updates /bits for routing,drilling ,facing .boring .milling

Before you know it , the machine itself starts to look pretty cheap , but all the stuff to make it do something including your time can become a huge investment.

Its a bit like like the capsule coffee machines or the cheap laser printer. Before you know it you've spent waaayyy more on capsules and toner than you might have imagined.

Doesn't mean it shouldn't be done but the big picture can be expensive

[mickyy1970]

Hi I've been working with cnc mills and lathes for 25 years. Designing with cad systems writing programs and running these machines. The one thing that has changed over the years is cost. It's getting cheaper the machines are cheaper the tooling is cheaper. A BT40 tool holder for a mill 20 years ago was $230 for the same now you can get for $90

[cray-]

The hobby grade stuff continues to get cheaper and the barriers to entry are falling. Something like the Shapeoko2 is quite reasonable at USD$695 of you don't feel like sourcing everything yourself. It's a kit but this is perfect because you get to learn about your machine as you put it together. They have free software which is quite visual and unintimidating compared to high end CAD/CAM. In basic form it uses a cheap multitool as a spindle so tooling is dirt cheap. It's a capable machine with a host of possibilities. Good times.