Smaller CNC ~18"X18" XY with more than 5" Z travel?

[SkyG]

Hello -

I've been lurking some time and finally have decided to jump in here. I'm a small model airplane (radio control) kit maker. I do all my own kit production in house using a kit built (Emission Technologies) laser cutter, which I really enjoy. My kits are mostly laser cut balsa sheets, and some vac-formed plastic for cowls, canopies etc. Most of what I do is 2D in AutoCAD, although I have some 3-D experience using both AutoCAD and Inventor. I'm considering getting a smaller desktop machine to make plugs for my vac formed parts. I've attached a few pics of one plug I made with laser cut balsa (a B-24 bomber in this case), which was stacked and then primed/sanded smooth. I'm sure I could find more uses for a CNC once I have it, but that would be the primary purpose. While doing a cowl like the one shown is fairly straightforward with the method I've been using, I'd like to be able to make more complex parts like canopies with faceted sides and such. In terms of materials, I would mainly be looking to make these parts out of wood - something harder than the balsa I've been using of course, but it doesn't have to be some super hard or expensive wood - it just has to stand up to the vac forming process. Even with a CNC, I would of course have to sand and fill/prime the part so that it would be completely smooth before vac forming. I really don't need a very big machine at all in terms of table size - a desktop model would be ideal. Most of what I cut is smaller than 10"X10" even. However, what I've noticed is that on the smaller machines, there's typically not a lot of Z travel available. Looking around, I've noticed that the K2 machine can be upgraded to a ~5" depth. I would say that for my purposes, this would be the absolute minimum. So I guess what I'm looking for is a:

1. Desktop machine of roughly 18"X18" size in terms of bed.
2. With a Z travel depth greater than 5"
3. That can cut hard or semi hard woods - I don't need a machine that can cut metal for sure
4. Will work with either Inventor or AutoCAD (I know, I need some CAM software to convert to whatever the machine runs on, just trying to give all parameters here)
5. Won't break the bank entirely. Let's say the budget is around $2k or LESS

I'm not at all opposed to a kit type machine, having done that with my laser cutter (which is dutifully cutting away as I type this) but I don't have access to, or the skills needed to do any real machining. For that reason, I figured I would start here to see if anything fit the bill - I understand that if I go the kit route I'll get a lot more for the money, but I'm not sure I can afford to spend hours and hours building a CNC. So if it is a kit, it has to be an assembly type kit, not a "now go machine the gantry" type kit.

Thanks for any input/suggestions!

-Sky

[SkyG]

I should also add that I have a copy of DesKAM 2000 that initially came with my Emission Technologies machine. I used to run that machine on DesKAM/DeskNC, but have since upgraded to Linkmotion/Solustan. I'm not sure if I could drive the machine with Linkmotion, but I'm pretty sure I could convert my 3D files into G-Code using DesKAM. That's getting a little ahead of myself, but just thought I would throw it out there.

-Sky