3 ms·

What CNC do you use? I've been into 3D printing for a bit and was debating getting into CNC as well.

dekhn 3y ago
I have a Genmitsu 4040 Pro https://www.sainsmart.com/products/genmitsu-4040-pro-semi-assembly-desktop-cnc-machine-for-carving-and-cutting https://www.sainsmart.com/products/genmitsu-4040-pro-semi-as... with the upgraded XZ (if you experience chatter, you can send support an email with a photo and they will send a replacement part; I just installed it yesterday and it's greatly improved my results). I haven't really accessorized it, other than to replace the included spindle with a Dewalt 611 router. Before that I had an XCarve but it was just too big and not rigid enough. I owned several early Shapeokos, which were simply not rigid enough. The 4040 pro is the first router I've had that's actually worked the way I expected (and even then, it clearly has some issues) in the cost window I care about. CNC brings challenges (and joys) that 3d printing does not have. You have to spend a lot more time thinking about the tools and their paths, mounting the work in the CNC, dealing with dust, etc, etc, but it's really reawrding to hand somebody a carving and see them blown away by the results.
- ToucanLoucan 3y ago
  That price is not bad at all for that kind of machine, especially if it's stable. My dad had an XCarve for a long while but he eventually just gave up on it. He was going to give it to me but I was reading about it and it just seemed like more bother than it was worth, especially given the physical space required.
  - dekhn 3y ago
    yes, the xcarve was nice but took up a big corner of my garage and honestly I wasn't cutting stuff near 1m x 1m and the ~400 x 400mm of the 4040 pro is more reasonable. It's stable (rigid) but not extremely so. You will not be able to make cuts as deep as you want, and aluminum will be challenging. But it's great for carving up a hunk of figured maple into art, as well as many other workflows. There are things like the MPCNC ,and building your own design with OpenBuilds, but I don't recommend them unless designing, building, and maintaining is what you want to spend your time doing.

I have a Genmitsu 4040 Pro https://www.sainsmart.com/products/genmitsu-4040-pro-semi-assembly-desktop-cnc-machine-for-carving-and-cutting https://www.sainsmart.com/products/genmitsu-4040-pro-semi-as... with the upgraded XZ (if you experience chatter, you can send support an email with a photo and they will send a replacement part; I just installed it yesterday and it's greatly improved my results). I haven't really accessorized it, other than to replace the included spindle with a Dewalt 611 router. Before that I had an XCarve but it was just too big and not rigid enough. I owned several early Shapeokos, which were simply not rigid enough. The 4040 pro is the first router I've had that's actually worked the way I expected (and even then, it clearly has some issues) in the cost window I care about. CNC brings challenges (and joys) that 3d printing does not have. You have to spend a lot more time thinking about the tools and their paths, mounting the work in the CNC, dealing with dust, etc, etc, but it's really reawrding to hand somebody a carving and see them blown away by the results.

ToucanLoucan 3y ago
That price is not bad at all for that kind of machine, especially if it's stable. My dad had an XCarve for a long while but he eventually just gave up on it. He was going to give it to me but I was reading about it and it just seemed like more bother than it was worth, especially given the physical space required.
- dekhn 3y ago
  yes, the xcarve was nice but took up a big corner of my garage and honestly I wasn't cutting stuff near 1m x 1m and the ~400 x 400mm of the 4040 pro is more reasonable. It's stable (rigid) but not extremely so. You will not be able to make cuts as deep as you want, and aluminum will be challenging. But it's great for carving up a hunk of figured maple into art, as well as many other workflows. There are things like the MPCNC ,and building your own design with OpenBuilds, but I don't recommend them unless designing, building, and maintaining is what you want to spend your time doing.