Options and price making my head spin !!! Need some advice

[kitcabsource]

Hi Guys,
I'm new here looking to get in to cnc.
So 8 years ago I saw a video of a cnc "robot arm" carving a foam bust of Beethoven, since then I've been hooked. My original idea was to start a business that could scan a human bust and then produce a wooden carved replica of the scan. Technology and budget forbid me from doing what I wanted in a simple scan, click, and cut format.
As a hobbyist I have scratch built scale rc airplanes, hand carved wooden E- pipes, made mascot heads from foam, even a 16' T-Rex from foam core for my son to wear on Halloween. All have been one hit wonders!!!!
The time I spent designing was all lost on the one finished piece because I didn't plan on making a duplicate. I'm looking to buy a multi purpose unit, one that has a router or spindle, and I can attach a laser for light cutting / engraving, maybe add 3D printing too in the future. Normally I think of multi purpose machines as being just "OK "on all of the units functions qualities, but being the shopbots quality seems to be really good, I'm willing to settle for " ok" quality for the laser and 3D printing add on's. After a long conversation with the salesman at shopbot, he said that a 48 x 48 unit with a 12 inch Z gantry and an extension on the other table for a 12 inch indexer that it would most likely work for my needs.
But once I receive the quote in my email I'm forced to think over what I need because the price was close to $30,000 with out laser or 3D printing, and that is really not in my budget. So do I settle on a cheaper machine that I can still have my extra add-ons for or is the machine that I'm looking at just too much for what I'm doing as you could see by photo library. Any input would be very much appreciated.
Thanks Lou

[Greencarvings]

If you are that HANDY, head on over to JoesCNC.com They build their own machines there and their forum is private but incredibly active. A huge number of machines have been built and they have build logs and so forth for all the gadgets you want to add to yours. You can probably get it built for about $5k.

[cowboy1296]

quality supersedes quantity every time. My shopbot buddy is like a timex, it has taken a licking and keeps on ticking. I am happy with a router vs a spindle. Floor space was important for me since mine is set up in the corner of my garage. For what i do a desktop could have handled my needs, but it was not available at the time. I could have used a taller gantry but 2 inch thick material is about all that i have worked with. Rule of thumb is always buy a little more/bigger than you need. Good luck.

[Davo]

A guy here in Texas sells diode lasers for Cnc - but it's not the power of a co2 or the same type of laser - so it cannot do glass or anything, simple foam cutting and what not

I can never see a Cnc doing the job of a laser with the attachment - even if it could it's far to slow and couldn't handle the speed the co2 lasers move

I'll be adding the diode laser to mine as soon as he figures out how to get it to work with shop bots

[chiloquinruss]

I have a MakerBot 3D printer, an FSLaser laser cutter and a 48x96 ShopBot. They all do different tasks differently. I defy your laser to carve out a 4x12x8ft mantle piece. If you are hobbyst and not doing it for profit all those bells and whistles are just that bells and whistles. I can do 'some' types of items using my Bot doing two sided carvings. I can do some add on details using the laser and use them as inlays. The neat part is that I use Vectric software for EVERYTHING I do and they have FREE trial downloads and a huge amount of reall good tutorials. Take a look and see if CNC is something you even want to do. I have done r/c and now I do model train modeling and my ShopBot does some pretty intricate work and is way faster than my laser and certainly faster than even the fastest 3D printer. Take a look at the software and think ShopBot Desktop, you can't go wrong. Russ

1/4 in scale stock car, 1/16th ball nose, 1mm sintra, a quarter on the end to show size. 6 minute cut time.
http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=28112&stc=1

http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=28113&stc=1

[myxpykalix]

First thing i would do is check the section
For Sale/Wanted - ShopBot-related items only (http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?12-For-Sale-Wanted-ShopBot-related-items-only)

look for something used. They retain their quality and value. You can make your own indexer for between $200.-$500.00

As far as 3d printer or laser addon I would highly recommend seperate tool altogether. Think about it, if you are using a a addon 3d printer or laser you can do NOTHING else but that. With seperate tools you can run a 3d printer while you are cutting something on your table or run the laser while you are using your indexer. Plus the 3d printers and lasers may have issues with all the dust around your table.

Before i bought my tools for my shop i bought a Shopsmith, a all in one tool and it was frustrating the constant back and forth of tool setups and only using one function at a time.

[joe]

Yesterday I took a stroll next door to my neighbor, Snyposis, which is always a treat. They built their CNC from scratch to make full 3d files for artists. The material is 3lb HDU which they glue up with common Great Stuff. The bust shows how their 3d router works but the hands are done on a regular router. All their work ends up being cast in bronze.

At the present they are finishing up on an Elephant project. These are done full size. The bull will be 18' high. Don't know if there's enough interest to post photo's.

[Davo]

As others stated - separate machines is the way to go - a Cnc laser cannot do clear material such as this one I make

28117

[kitcabsource]

Hi Joe,
I'm always interested in seeing what can be done!!!! Post away!!!!!!
Thanks

[kitcabsource]

Hi Russ,
Being you work with small detail, let me ask you this. Being the cost of my dream machine is extreme for my budget, does a bench top with a 3" indexer do detail better than say a 4x4 with a 12" gantry and extension with 12" indexer and all the faster higher power electronics in the alpha model? My short term goal is for my pipes and misc projects but I am the type of guy who doesn't like limitation....... Some examples of my hand carved pipes for reference are in my profile.

[chiloquinruss]

"Being you work with small detail" You really have to look at the specifications for the various machines and also go to their forums and see what folks are really doing. The new DeskTop Max has the best detail of all the ShopBots - BUT - if you are building r/c airplanes you won't need that level of detail. I use a 1/16th in ball nose that means my corners are 1/32 of an inch! I don't do much 3d carving so that fills my needs. If on the other hand you plan on doing lots of 3d stuff then go for the best resolution you can. If you are planning on doing fireplace mantels a DeskTop probably is not your machine! ;) Russ

PRSstandard: (what I have)
Step resolution .0006”.
PRSalpha:
Step resolution of .0004”.
DeskTop Max:
Resolution: 0.00025” (.00635mm)