On the topic of CNCs - for anyone looking for a more low budget solution and are willing to put in the work required I can highly recommend Nikodem Bartnik’s plans for a 3D printed CNC: https://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-3D-Printed-Dremel-CNC/
I haven’t kept up with the project but at least it used to have a pretty active Facebook group too where the design was improved so that’s probably worth checking out before diving in.
I use a 500W chinese spindle for mine and with some practice and experimentation I am now able to get a very consistent result for making Eurorack panels out of 1.5mm aluminium. Also, my wife uses it for cutting out copper for jewlery making. I’ve also done some small woodworking projects. It’s really fun to work wood in such an accurate way I find.
The machine has its limitations. It’s probably not as rigid as some commercial machines, although I think people have improved on the design in this regard. Also, the surface on mine is limited to ~16cm wide projects, but that’s ok for my needs.
I use CNC.js to control it, it’s a full featured web based CNC controller.
Kindly,
Terje
A small album of results: