Community College teacher wanting CNC recommendation

[woodenfred]

I'm a fine furniture teacher in North Carolina, and our plans to purchase a sliding panel saw are fizzling. We're starting to think about using the funds to purchase a CNC Router. I don't know much about them, but am very eager to learn.

Normally I research the heck out of a new purchase, but there is a time constraint and I can't exactly walk into a store and mess with one. Also, I'm not sure what I'd be looking for.

Our budget, all inclusive, is around 8-9,000. This is going into a college environment so it won't be used heavily, but maybe abused unintentionally. I'd really love to be able to fit a 4x8 sheet on it, but whatever I can get. Dust collector is already present. It probably would be used for cutting repeated parts, some carvings, 3-d sculpting, and processing some plywood.

Unfortunately I'm not allowed to look at used equipment. If anyone can give me some good suggestions I'd really appreciate.

[Pplug]

Check out shopbottools.com they give you a full 4x4 CNC setup for about that much. They also include some basic design software as well. You could also find some used machines on their forums that might be cheaper and you could get some better CNC design software for the price you are looking for.

I just specked out vectric educational licenses they offer 10 seats for the price of 1 or 25 seats for the price of two! That is even for aspire!

I just finished a scratch built 4'x4' router for my school. The total was about $3000.

[ger21]

You're budget is probably too low for a 4x8 machine. For a good quality machine, You'll be looking at somewhere between 2x3 or 2x4.
Stinger Specs

You can get a standard 4x8 Shopbot for $12,195.
PRSstandard CNC Routers