- Joined
- Mar 26, 2018
- Messages
- 2,724
My personal experience:
As a younger guy at 24 (got my first mill at 17), I started with a Sherline CNC mill. Great way to learn CNC but extremely limited in capabilities. I went to the G0704 CNC route which I have to this day. There are times when I find the travel size, rigidity, and power a limitation, however it has given me 5 good years of use and truly thousands of good parts. I recently bought a 12x36 lathe and I think that will keep me satisfied for the foreseeable future. I know this is still small by many people's standards, but the rigidity is on another level from my CNC.
I think the 1000lb mark is a great machine size for the home hobbyist. Sure a bigger machine will get it done faster and easier, but you should be able to do most everything with something around this size.
But as stated above, your mileage may vary based on the parts you work on.
As a younger guy at 24 (got my first mill at 17), I started with a Sherline CNC mill. Great way to learn CNC but extremely limited in capabilities. I went to the G0704 CNC route which I have to this day. There are times when I find the travel size, rigidity, and power a limitation, however it has given me 5 good years of use and truly thousands of good parts. I recently bought a 12x36 lathe and I think that will keep me satisfied for the foreseeable future. I know this is still small by many people's standards, but the rigidity is on another level from my CNC.
I think the 1000lb mark is a great machine size for the home hobbyist. Sure a bigger machine will get it done faster and easier, but you should be able to do most everything with something around this size.
But as stated above, your mileage may vary based on the parts you work on.