Any affordable cnc's?

[Francisco perez]

Hi, i been looking into adding a cnc engraver to my business, my question is.... does any one know of any affordable cnc's?? i found some china made ones at really good pricing but have no idea if they are any good, i'm just looking for a small machine, cheap, something simple that can engrave letters or logos onto metal, the dipper the better, nothing to crazy, thanks!!

[Dan Hintz]

Define "affordable". Tell us what you intend to make with it.

[Francisco perez]

affordable as in price, i really don't want to spent thousands of dollars in one, i will most likely use it more as a hobby than business, that's why i'm looking for a cheap cnc, i will use it mostly for engraving flat car parts (brackets), like for lettering or logos, i seen a few on ebay that are china made and go for no more than two thousand bucks, hope this helps, thanks Dan.

[ed vitanovec]

I was looking at the ones on Ebay from China and its hard to decide from pictures if the quality will be good. I can almost bet the tech support won't be there. The shipping cost is built into the selling price and its to a port like Los Angles. Then you need to add the import taxes which I could never get anyone to tell me what to expect the cost would be. I was told I needed to hire an import broker to handle the taxes and inbound shipping from the port to Texas. I decided against this and ended up buying a Torchmate 2x4. You can take a look at Torchmates 2x2 or the K2CNC 1414 or 2514. K2CNC makes quality CNC's and can be bought as a frame only and you would add your own electronics. You can also buy plans from PDJ Inc. and build the Pilot Pro. I would recommend you look at the K2CNC 2514 frame only for $1485 on Ebay. They are in Orange County and you would not have to pay shipping cost, just go pick it up. Look at electronic packages on Ebay or Keling CNC, you could have a CNC router for close to $2200.

Regards!
Ed

[Brad Knight]

Well, I would do a simple breakdown of cost based on what I want to do.

First you have your CAD/CAM software - Aspire is about 2 grand by itself if bought separately. But that will give you the ability to design almost anything you want and generate the tool paths to cut it.

Then if you go with the K2 or similar type frame only system, you're looking at another $1500 to $2000... and that's without buying a motor, control board or piece of wire.

I've seen the electronics kits sell for ~$500

So for, maybe $2000, probably closer to $3000 you can buy a pile of parts - which if assembled properly, will still give you a relatively small working envelope.

So, cheap is a relative term. Scale, dependability, support, repeatability - all factor into value.

I'd stay away from anything from China - their boards are even printed in Chinnese which makes it difficult to troubleshoot, even if you're good at electronics. You'd almost have to be willing to strip it down and rebuild it from American parts... but by the time you did that, you'd be better off buying one of those horrible 'American' products.

[Tom Sharum]

Hi guys, I want to steer everyone to a small company I discovered about a year and a half ago. The company is Blurry Customs out of Moscow Idaho (USA). I purchased one of there Ironman CNC Machines. These machines are not I repeat not chinnese junk. These are high quality machines made in the good old U.S.A. And they are very affordable. I am very happy with my Ironman, and I will do business with them again in the future. I do not work for this company nor am I connected to them in any way. I am just a happy customer who wants to see a good company succeed. You can find them at blurrycustoms.com

[james mcgrew]

it is pretty hit or miss with these machines, me i pay a little more and sleep at night.

affordability is determined by what is in your wallet and what is your comfort level for spending,

[Mike Heidrick]

it is pretty hit or miss with these machines, me i pay a little more and sleep at night.

But you posted this at 2:36am?? LOL

[james mcgrew]

oh but i went right back to bed!!

[Bruce Page]

Hi guys, I want to steer everyone to a small company I discovered about a year and a half ago. The company is Blurry Customs out of Moscow Idaho (USA). I purchased one of there Ironman CNC Machines. These machines are not I repeat not chinnese junk. These are high quality machines made in the good old U.S.A. And they are very affordable. I am very happy with my Ironman, and I will do business with them again in the future. I do not work for this company nor am I connected to them in any way. I am just a happy customer who wants to see a good company succeed. You can find them at blurrycustoms.com

Everything is in kit form, they don’t appear to sell a turn-key CNC router system. For someone like me that is interested in cnc but is not an expert on the subject, ordering kit-form is daunting.

[Mike Heidrick]

I love that they sell spindles too!

[Tom Sharum]

Bruce, Blurry Customs will sell a unit fully assembled. You can get it for less if you put it together.

[Mike Heidrick]

Is the web price assembled or DIY assembly? When you say they are " very affordable" what are you comparing them too?

[Chuck Gallup]

"Affordable CNC"?
This is a double negative in thought and action.
To me, it means you are beaten before even trying and you are planning to provide marginal products and service to your customers.
Producing quality, innovative, products, goods or services at competitive pricing was what Americans once did better than any other!
This was done with the best money could buy.
IMHO, the best tools money can buy are the best value.

How do you create an algorithm that includes your existing age, experience, demand, market penetration, expenses and profit expectation that spits out a machine requirement?

Man....I can't think of anything more frustrating than an "affordable" precision machine. My definition if a "bargain" is: Something you can't use at a price you can't refuse.

Some of the best machines ever built were created in the '40's are now cast iron T-rex relics collecting dust because they are one-off machines and simply can't compete.

In my other life, I bought bearings for repair of hydraulic and heavy industry equipment.
It's a tough, expensive lesson to learn not to buy Chinese.
Most Americans just don't expect a product like a Chinese sealed bearing to be inferior out of the box.
They are.

My money is going to the best products Americans make.

[Mike Heidrick]

Its all about acceptable afforadability. We preach the vendors cammaster and shopbot but those are toys in the real cnc world machining ($100K plus machines). Many of those large machines are made in Europe and not in the US. What is an acceptable cost for an acceptable level of quality is the question we are faced with. Also right sizing our work and machines.

I trade time and muscle (brain and arm) for less money expense and that is how I get my acceptable affordable levels of quality and precision. As always I want better than i can afford so I build that. That is my suggestion to consider in looking at affordable options. This in reality may cost me infinately more in the long run though so consider your worth as well. That is also how I USA make it though.