I have been going over many of the threads on this site and various other you-tube channels etc etc to try and get some answers but felt I would reach out to this community. As you can predict I am looking at getting into CNC the only problem is that I have to convince my boss that it is worth the investment. I started looking at CarveWright and quickly realized this would not be the machine for me. I guess the best way to start is describe what I intend to use it for. We important a large volume of antique furniture from Europe...we often have missing carvings trim that profile is hard to match, missing tracery etc etc. The idea is that with a CNC and digitizing probe we will be able to sample what we have and reproduce the pieces to rough profile where we can clean everything else up by hand for small detail. Which leads me to where to start with CNC machines. Assuming most parts are small I think a desktop version is a good place to start, have it pay for itself and build enough revenue to help finance a larger system that can carve panels up to 4ft approx. So here are the questions:
Machines:
Opinions on using the Chinese made CNC 3040 that retail around $700 on ebay. Is this a good point to start at just to learn the process before investing in a larger piece of equipment? Any experience, recommendations etc.
Any other models for 2016 that compare to the CNC Shark or Shopbot line at a modest price?
Software:
It appears there are many options out there. I am most comfortable with using google sketchup as I use this everyday for both 2D drafting on projects and also 3D modeling. I was hoping there was a software I could just make what I wanted the finished product to look like in sketchup, import it and the software auto determines the toolpaths to achieve the desired finished product. Any such software?
I have been looking and tinkering with trials of VCarve and Aspire, any comparable softwares you recommend that work well with sketchup?
Appreciate any pointers, thanks!