I am strongly considering investing in one. I have run across a few times where it would have been handy to have for some customization of things for clients. As many of you know I do a lot of custom woodworking and modifications for clients "In house" so this seems like a natural progression and opens the door for alot of different things.

I'm looking at "Avid CNC" 4x8 model. (formally CNC router parts) it seems this is a favorite among the "mid range" cnc machines. I also like that it is modular and allows for Plasma CNC cutting should the need arise in the future.

The only thing that is really holding me back is the "computer" part of it. My brother is well versed in Solid Works and he could teach me, but for the most part I think most of my designs would be done in sketchup for the initial "learning curve"

Does anyone have a CNC machine, even a small one? How did you learn Sketchup?

There are a HEAP of great resources on this on YouTube. I recently bought a manual mill but have yet to dive into the CNC world. Yet.

Check out "This Old Tony". He's a smart guy, and his videos are incredibly entertaining to watch.

[Link: hackaday.com]

If you want to get some more serious stuff, Stefan Gotteswinter or NYCCNC are other great places to look.

I use Solidworks for 3D printing designs, for my CNC router I use VCarve from Vectric [Link: vectric.com]

By the way, I use Mach 3 for machine control, Mach 4 is out now. [Link: machsupport.com] CNCZone is my favorite website for info. [Link: cnczone.com]