The Morris Dovey entity posted thusly:

Oleg Lego (in ) said:
|
| But you can sure by a lot of jigs, fixtures and accessories (not to
| mention routers and tables), for what you'd have to spend on a
| ShopBot.

Starting out, I was afraid to consider used equipment and wasn't aware
that there were some really good buys to be had. Had I known how to
look for used equipment, I'd have paid far less (perhaps a fifth or a
fourth as much) for a good used machine.

Hmm... sounds interesting. My situation, being a hobbyist only sort of
dictates how much I can spend without the profit justification.

If I'd known what I've learned _since_ buying my machine, I'd almost
certainly have paid to have a table and gantries welded up and then
built the rest myself. Three-axis controller cards and stepper motors
are available off-the-shelf.

I've been thinking seriously about CNC conversions for mini-mill (HF)
and mini-lathe (Griz) for making small metal parts for the woodshop.
Either can be built using all new components for under $2K. I have a
programming background and was able to write the driver software for a
$200 controller card in about an hour. It's /not/ rocket surgery!

I'm a programmer as well, and do mostly assembler on micros, VB and
some C/C++ on PCs (Windows, usually, but prefer Linux). I don't know
if I have enough confidence in my programming abilities to buy the
hardware 'on spec' and to write the software later.

There was a recent thread with a Dutch OP who built a CNC router and

Was that on the ShopBot or CNCZone forums?

I'll guess that machine put him out of pocket less than $1K, and could
be modified (only slightly) to become a wonderfully flexible CNC
joinery machine capable of out-performing any/all of the off-the-shelf
passive joinery machines - and produce joints impossible/impractical
with templates.

$1K sounds like my kind of price. For a few years, I made vinyl signs,
and kept looking at my vinyl cutter, thinking "I could make a CNC
router", but never did try. I even bought a video from a fellow who
had made a CNC table using (of all things), alternators as stepper
motors. Misplaced both the video and his name/email address years ago,
though.

Best of all, there's a _lot_ of free help available. The ShopBot and
CNCZone forums (both of which welcome visitors) have been of
considerable help to me.

I'll look for the forums.

Now you know more than I did when I started. :-)

I do, and thank you for the knowledge.

Larry
---
There are 10 kinds of people --
those who understand binary, and those who don't.
-- Uncle Phil