Newbie- Plasma vs Router

[pinjas]

Hello,

For a while, I have been in the planning stages of making a CNC plasma table. I've been planning on buying a plasma cutter, but at 1000 or so for the low end I have to consider the cheaper, and possibly better or at least as good router option for working metals like aluminum.
Is this a good option to go with? Can the work done by a plasma cutter be done just the same with a router? I have seem some variable speed routers for around 300 dollars, that price is so sweet looking right now, not to mention not having to worry about so many of the other details.

Can sharp corners be made with a router? Is this a pipe dream? Sorry for the jumbling thoughts, I don't know where to start with this idea. I have searched a fair bit for any kind of comparison or speculation on this idea but I wasn't able to really find much of anything worth the read or able to give any sort of insight to the idea.

For the moment, I doubt I'd be cutting much thicker than 1/8th inch in materials such as steel or aluminum. Thanks!

[rtsplace]

Hello, I've been in the planning stage of building a 5' X 8' plasma/router table. I'm focusing on the plasma table more than router. Hoping to start the build next month as I have all the ingrediants now plasma cutter, gantry, and the controls will arrive in a couple weeks. From what I've learned if you want a CNC router you should build a beefy table and gantry to handle the cutting forces of the router. Precision Plasma and candcnc.com are a good source of information they answered all my questions and were very patient with me. I'm a 30 year vetran in a CNC shop and have my own shop at home.
Good Luck.............rtsplace