Comparison of low cost routers

[JG Woodworks]

Hi, guys. I was thinking of buying a CNC to cut MDF cabinet doors from 4X8 sheets. My budget is around $25k, for my application i would have to have a tool changer and a few more extras. With all the experts and owners that visit this site i thought it would be smart to ask if you could give me your oppinion when comparing some of the low cost CNC routers. Ive checked out Shop Sabre, Digirout, and k2. If you would, please give me your opinion on what company would be best to go with, considering price, quality, and the construction to help me figure out what would be the best machine for me to go with. Also if their is any others that i didnt list that i may need to look at please mention.

[cncwriter]

www.technocnc.com

small investment, BIG RETURN

heavy tubular steel base
servomotors
ball screws

free online quote building

check out the LC Series for your price range

end of sales pitch

[JG Woodworks]

Techno quoted me for 4896 LC series, 5hp ATC, 10hp vac, 5 zone vac table, and enroute wood for about 53K. Thats a little over my price range.

[Zumba]

You won't get ATC with a $25K budget unless you fabricate some stuff yourself and buy the ATC Spindle directly from a manufacturer/distributor (Colombo or similar).

You say you want to to route MDF doors.... anything fancy? I'm assuming at most an arch or tombstone? You can probably get by with simpler, cheaper software.

Vac table... if you're just cutting MDF, you can use a method where you don't cut all the way through the MDF, but rather 98% or so leaving a "skin" at the bottom. That way, there are no holes to leak vacuum pressure and you won't need a 10hp pump.

Get rid of the bells and whistles, figure out what you actually need, and you'll see the price plummet. Manufacturers probably hate it when customers by bare bones machines. The machines are usually priced very competitively because those are the numbers that buyers initially see. Then when the buyer gets sucked in, the overpriced options stack up and jack up the price.

[GuitarEng]

you could also check out www.exfactory.com even if it was just to see what other types of equipment is out there.

You could probably pick up something used for that price that would have more of the options you're looking for.