Thanks for the approval

[Signworks]

My name is Wayne and I hail from the piney woods of the great State of Florida. I build signs for a living and use a ShopBot 4x8 and a homebuilt thermal wire cutter I call the "Paragon 120D". I'm not new to CNC but am new to plasma. I was planning to build my own machine using 80/20 aluminum extrusions for the frame and gantry, milling my own linear guides, building the controller etc. But I have so many projects already in progress, I decided to just buy a used one so I got an Eagle Plasma 4x8. I know it's not the best heaviest duty unit but it will get me started. Thanks for reading

[acourtjester]

Welcome aboard, should not be a big leap to the plasma end of CNC as you already use Mach 3. Don't know how large your signs are but have you looked into mounting a router on the table to expand its use. I have been doing plaques for the guy across the street, which could be looked at as small signs. lots of fun to be had

[Signworks]

Nice!
Yes, I have designed a gantry(not built yet) which would mount to the Y axes and a 5th axis lathe to mount to the table. I would mount a lightweight spindle to it and this would be used for making full 3D stuff like sculptures out of EPS foam and other lightweight plastics. But right now, it already has a 24'' turntable in the center of the table(not shown), which runs off a geared-down 425ozin stepper motor wired into the controller. Mach3 can control the speed of the table as a third axis as the x and y control the wire. . But for routing normal wood and plastics, I just use my shopbot.