CNC machine which one.

[Mike]

I have an X-Carve 1000mm with the upgrade kit (stiffer rails, larger stepper motors, taller x-axis). For jigs, templates, small parts, even rough shaping an archtop it works great. I haven’t done a neck, so I can’t say how that would work. I would highly recommend a spindle (mine uses a DeWalt router) – quieter for sure, probably less runout, although with precision collets mine works really well.

[Ricky K]

I’m in the same boat. I lost access to my makerspace CNC, so now am in the market. If I could justify the cost, I’d probably go with the Laguna IQ Pro. But, since I can’t, I’m looking at the Shapeoko 5 Pro. My local library has the XCarve and I’m not really a fan. I’m hoping to get more input from this thread though.

[Carlos Urquidi Urquidi Guitars]

I have an Openbuilds Lead 1010. It is intimidating at first to ensamble the machine, but the online tutorials are great. What sets this machine apart is the people behind Openbuilds, they are very knowledgeable and very kind, tech support and customer service are amazing. Once you get a hold of the basics, you get a lot from your machine, I have built some tools with it, templates, I even figured out a way to machine guitar nuts. You’ll need a great computer, software and patience. Their free browser based CAM is one of the best I’ve seen, and if you complement it with Inventable’s Easel, you’ll have a great combo there.

[Paul M]

I have a OneFinity and while the machine itself is great, the controller is garbage and the company has been really awful to deal with. I do not recommend them. Which sucks because it’s a well designed machine but dealing with these people has been bizarre.

My 1F has a 48″x32″ work space and while it takes up a large part of my shop, any smaller would be annoying. I could maybe to 32×32. But it’s helpful if you want to leave fixtures on the workspace that you’re not crammed in.

I think it’s also important to be rational about how much time investment is involved. Personally the learning curve was super steep. I went with Fusion which may or may not be less user friendly (the problem therein is that usually people are only trained in one software and I think have a hard time comparing anything to the one they used) but regardless, I probably have a solid 4 or 5 months of just fucking around before I was able to do anything constructive.

If you are making guitars, I HIGHLY recommend you do a simple Fender style electric build first. I went with some acoustic guitars and the models were pretty byzantine by the time I was done. I will have to go back and fix some stuff. Part of the learning process I think. But I just did an electric on the CNC and it was like I was barely working.

I would be interested in an Openbuilds machine if I was starting over.

[Andy T]

I have a Laguna IQ Pro with a 5 position tool changer. It’s very high quality machine that should last you for years and Laguna is a good company. I haven’t used it yet due to a back operation that didn’t fix all of my issues. A friend has the same machine and has been making bodies and necks. He loves it. I have messed with Fusion for programming and it doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. I have an Aerospace CNC programming background from many years back. I’m going to get the machine running and give the Rhino programming software a try soon.

[Paul M]

That Laguna looks pretty sweet. In that price range I’d consider AVID also. Tool changer would be pretty amazing. Lotta money though.

[Kat Creek]

If I could get a Lugana where I live I would have bought one. I have a SegMag Beta but it might be a nightmare with customs getting it to you from Portugal. I’ll report on the machine when I get it running. It was delivered but the mfr will be here next week to set it up. (what a convinience)