Hi all, I have a benchtop hobby CNC machine from PROTOTOOLS - its a Heinze S720. I have ad the machine a couple of years and its great for carving, 3d carving, V carving. I am a 'bit of an addict'.
Experienced hobbyists and professionals who know their way around a workshop are no strangers to the effectiveness and convenience that are provided by CNC routers. While these machines are not exactly known amongst the general population, they are in fact slowly replacing tools in the workshop and are on their way to becoming the preferred option for a wide array of projects.
Before making a decision on which model to go with, there are several features and attributes that you need to know about.
Table size
What software you will use (CAD & Controller)
Types of carving you want to do
Dust collection
There are many self-build kits or some cheap and reliable options available such as:
BOB’s CNC
Shapeoko (this is excellent in my opinion)
Laguna (a ‘tad expensive’)
X Carve (another excellent hobby machine)
I would advise not buying the cheap Chinese machines as the electrics are ‘dodgy’ and don’t buy a Stepcraft. I had one and it awful
Thanks Rich for the heads up. I think the machines are impressive and would make lightwork out of some of the tedious jobs, most people IMO prefer hand crafting the old way. Simply because of the learning curve (programing, setup ect) price and quality. Not everyone has an extra $500-1000 that they willing to plop down on a 'mistake' either it was junk or don't understand the process. If you don't understand the process how do you know if it's you or the machine? Human nature being what it is, 9 times out of 10 it's the machine and you can't always trust the reviews. I personally would love to have one for my upcoming project(CBGs for WARRIORS) which will require many repetitive cuts. With your experience of these machines, what would you recommend if it were you?
Rich Butters > KOOL DOG HOOCHOctober 26, 2019 at 8:39am
Hi Will, you are right these machines do take away the hand crafting skills and the development of hand crafting of wood and woodworking but the way I look at it is that, they are a tool like a chisel, saw etc but a modern tool, one controlled by a computer
Yes there is a learning curve involved with any new tool but one you 'crack it' the CNC is and excellent addition to the workshop. They do enable you to take away any repetitive work but also do enable the non-artist to design and create stunning carving which can only enhance the pieces we create.
These machines come in different sizes and the size dictates the price. You would need to look at the maximum size of job you will carve / mill
All come with controller software which make the machine move but you will need CAD software but here there are many freely available on the web i.e. Inkscape and others
I have one of the chinese machines, cost me £230 in the UK and believe me they are a pain in the ass. Flaky components, especially psu and control boards, and one hell of a learning curve to get them doing what you want. That said, master one of these and you are good to go with a 'big boy' machine later.
KOOL DOG HOOCH > Laurence OwenSeptember 29, 2019 at 2:34pm
If I'm not mistaken the company's original name written in English was "Chucked You Farley"! Or their motto.
Replies
Hi all, I have a benchtop hobby CNC machine from PROTOTOOLS - its a Heinze S720. I have ad the machine a couple of years and its great for carving, 3d carving, V carving. I am a 'bit of an addict'.
Experienced hobbyists and professionals who know their way around a workshop are no strangers to the effectiveness and convenience that are provided by CNC routers. While these machines are not exactly known amongst the general population, they are in fact slowly replacing tools in the workshop and are on their way to becoming the preferred option for a wide array of projects.
Before making a decision on which model to go with, there are several features and attributes that you need to know about.
There are many self-build kits or some cheap and reliable options available such as:
I would advise not buying the cheap Chinese machines as the electrics are ‘dodgy’ and don’t buy a Stepcraft. I had one and it awful
Thanks Rich for the heads up. I think the machines are impressive and would make lightwork out of some of the tedious jobs, most people IMO prefer hand crafting the old way. Simply because of the learning curve (programing, setup ect) price and quality. Not everyone has an extra $500-1000 that they willing to plop down on a 'mistake' either it was junk or don't understand the process. If you don't understand the process how do you know if it's you or the machine? Human nature being what it is, 9 times out of 10 it's the machine and you can't always trust the reviews. I personally would love to have one for my upcoming project(CBGs for WARRIORS) which will require many repetitive cuts. With your experience of these machines, what would you recommend if it were you?
Hi Will, you are right these machines do take away the hand crafting skills and the development of hand crafting of wood and woodworking but the way I look at it is that, they are a tool like a chisel, saw etc but a modern tool, one controlled by a computer
Yes there is a learning curve involved with any new tool but one you 'crack it' the CNC is and excellent addition to the workshop. They do enable you to take away any repetitive work but also do enable the non-artist to design and create stunning carving which can only enhance the pieces we create.
I would recommend:
These machines come in different sizes and the size dictates the price. You would need to look at the maximum size of job you will carve / mill
All come with controller software which make the machine move but you will need CAD software but here there are many freely available on the web i.e. Inkscape and others
Hope this helps
Cheers
Rich
Page not found, bt that's OK, it probably saved me 100 dollars
Look at the link above in red!
Pretty cool...
Ha ha Will, referring to my first post, I could have spent a lot less and still found my chisels more attractive.
Taff
Naner Naner Naner! I figured it was junk. So I found some more For your viewing pleasure. :-)
I have one of the chinese machines, cost me £230 in the UK and believe me they are a pain in the ass.
Flaky components, especially psu and control boards, and one hell of a learning curve to get them doing what you want.
That said, master one of these and you are good to go with a 'big boy' machine later.
If I'm not mistaken the company's original name written in English was "Chucked You Farley"! Or their motto.
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