Is anyone else having a hard time justifying CNCing an X3.

I'm looking at a Grizzly X3 delivered for about $1050.

Add a CNCFusion Ballscrew kit at $900.

Add a Keling stepper and driver kit for 4 axis @ $450.

Add a Phase II Horizontal / Vertical rotary table @ $300.

Total is $2700.

A Tormach is around $7000.

Just wondering what everyone else is thinking....:confused:

I didn't think too much, I bought the Syil SX3. It was the right choice for me and I couldn't be happier with it.

Wade

I would tend to agree that the Tormach is overall a better value given their relative costs, but only IF you have the money, AND can justify the extra cost for a non-commercial hobby use toy. But in essence, yes, it's more machine for the buck certainly. A full kit still costs well more than 7 grand though.
Realistically, a lot of folks on here have a hard time just coming up with the money even for an X3. Even if you have the cash, hobbyists usually don't use them hard enough, often enough, or for anything critical enough to justify the extra cost versus the lousy MTBF. The maintenance overhead and relatively high downtime just doesn't affect us like it would in a production environment.
For hobby use the constant tinkering is a very acceptable tradeoff for cost. Even in a business environment where the mill is simply used seldom enough that it doesn't justify anything more expensive, an X3 can make sense. A friend has an auto restoration shop and uses his one or twice a month, maybe, and even then it isn't critical. For him it's perfect.
Talk about running a production business with one and the equation changes drastically, as then an X3 certainly wouldn't be the optimal choice, but it does have it's niche and it fills a very important one.

I would tend to agree that the Tormach is overall a better value given their relative costs, but only IF you have the money, AND can justify the extra cost for a non-commercial hobby use toy. But in essence, yes, it's more machine for the buck certainly. A full kit still costs well more than 7 grand though.
Realistically, a lot of folks on here have a hard time just coming up with the money even for an X3. Even if you have the cash, hobbyists usually don't use them hard enough, often enough, or for anything critical enough to justify the extra cost versus the lousy MTBF. The maintenance overhead and relatively high downtime just doesn't affect us like it would in a production environment.
For hobby use the constant tinkering is a very acceptable tradeoff for cost. Even in a business environment where the mill is simply used seldom enough that it doesn't justify anything more expensive, an X3 can make sense. A friend has an auto restoration shop and uses his one or twice a month, maybe, and even then it isn't critical. For him it's perfect.
Talk about running a production business with one and the equation changes drastically, as then an X3 certainly wouldn't be the optimal choice, but it does have it's niche and it fills a very important one.

exactly since the same could be said of spending 7k for a tormach over spending 15k for a full vertical cnc kneemill like this one
http://cgi.ebay.ca/1997-COMET-MV-5-CNC-VERTICAL-MILL-5HP-AUTOCON-50-3-AXI_W0QQitemZ150210172797QQihZ005QQcategoryZ12584QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
it really depends on your usage of it because when you think of it the 4k that you will spend to buy a tormach could have bought you alot of toolong and setup equipment wich you would not have with you 7k tormach

There is also a lot to be said for the experience of tearing the machine apart to convert it to CNC. Even with a kit, you will learn a lot that will put you ahead of the game when it comes to keeping the machine tuned up and repaired. And of course for most of us it's a lot of fun. :)

Is anyone else having a hard time justifying CNCing an X3.

I'm looking at a Grizzly X3 delivered for about $1050.

Add a CNCFusion Ballscrew kit at $900.

Add a Keling stepper and driver kit for 4 axis @ $450.

Add a Phase II Horizontal / Vertical rotary table @ $300.

Total is $2700.

A Tormach is around $7000.

Just wondering what everyone else is thinking....:confused:

So whats the point? The Tormac sure isnt going to have a 4th axis for 7K!