Debating myself: is a cnc router worth the money or just a fancy paperweight

I dropped $3,200 on a used ShopBot last year thinking it would speed up my cabinet builds something fierce. First few months were rough, I had to learn the software from scratch and wasted a lot of birch plywood on test cuts. But after about 6 months I got the hang of it and now I can crank out door panels and drawer fronts in a fraction of the time I used to. On the other hand my buddy Jim spent $2,800 on a similar setup and says he barely uses it, calls it a glorified drill press that collects dust. Maybe it depends on how much repeat work you do versus custom one-offs... I'm still on the fence about whether it was a smart buy or just a expensive hobby. Has anyone else gone back and forth on a big tool purchase like this?

2 comments

2 Comments

fiona_scott447d ago

Call the ShopBot a glorified drill press one more time Jim, you're just mad you skipped the setup phase.

paige8707d ago

Is it really that serious though? Like yeah, skipping setup is a bad move but calling it a glorified drill press is just funny. I've seen guys run a ShopBot for months without touching the tuning and still crank out decent cabinet parts. The real problem is when someone blames the machine for their own lazy calibration.