The CNC machine market is rich in all kinds of solutions and at first glance we do not know how to choose the right cnc machine for us. The only thing we consider is the size of the machine's working area, ignoring all other important factors. Often, the only reason to choose is the confidence that the machine's salesman has inspired in us, often using marketing tricks and sales manipulation to achieve their goal. Often they are brilliantly marketing-trained salesmen who say what you want to hear. When choosing the right cnc machine, use common sense above all and follow some of the rules listed below.

What do you need to know to choose the right machine for your needs ?

Determine your needs

First of all, you need to establish your needs and this guide will help you make the right selection of the cnc machines available on the market.

If you run a small business in carpentry and contract out work such as cutting formats, then it is imperative that you purchase a CNC machine and start earning your keep rather than giving away the money you earn. The services are costly and often lock you out of the final profit in terms of time and quality.

Determine the purchase budget

If you have already made the right decision then you initially have to face the financing of your planned purchase. You usually determine your budget and, like many, fall into the first trap. You look for CNC machines available on the market and follow the principle of buying what you can afford. You look on the Internet, type in the keyword "milling plotter" and a lot of offers come up, and the prices that come up suggest prices of around 50,000 and you determine your budget based on this.

If you did then you have just fallen into a trap.

Why?

Because no major manufacturer puts its machines on sale portals. Usually for purely economic and practical reasons.

 The manufacturer of the machine has incurred a huge expense to make such a machine and the level of earnings is set in the range of 5 to 25% which, given the huge margins of up to 10 % in value for brokering, is unprofitable. This is in contrast to goods imported for volume. 

This is why most of the low-budget machines are visible online and create confusion among the real production cnc machines, which range in price from 200 to even 900,000. Yes, this is a considerable sum, but it is also a production machine, not a training toy.

You can't build a real business based on toy solutions, but not everyone has such ambitions and for some of the manufacturers such equipment is sufficient. If you had a format saw and edge banding machine, buying a plotter is a big technological leap for most, even in its simplest form. One hard maths leaves no illusions.

- The efficiency of imported machinery is 20 times lower.

It's like having 20 friendly companies folding into 1 professional one.

Check out the arguments for buying a professional cnc machine tool

• The costs associated with manufacturing inputs in the form of tools are 10 times lower. With stable designs, tools wear out less. Machines that are not very stable vibrate, damaging the tools.
• Many times less energy is wasted on detailing in proportion to the time, which is 20 times greater in professional machines. This gives a 20 times lower energy bill. If we assume the energy consumption of, for example, on the vacuum pump alone, 5.5Kw is already quite a burden. Bearing in mind any future energy increases, the sums saved are already high.
• The costs associated with budget machine downtime due to low-quality components versus trouble-free industrial CNC Machine Tools with warranties of up to 10 years and over 20 years of service dates are serious arguments for choosing a professional machine tool.
• The rate of return in professional machines at worst is five years at best a few months. Compared to toy machines that will never pay for themselves, it is a serious wake-up call.
• The ability to work continuously on professional machines makes it a money-making machine, and with imported equipment, it's just an expense.
• Time is an important consideration. We have to divide it between work and private life. If you buy a professional device such as the Sentinel N cnc machine tool, for example, you will have it for your family and there will still be enough for your passions, if you choose a toy device, all your free time will be spent solving the problems you will be presented with if you choose a cnc device unwisely.
• Losses, so on professional machines, are practically only reduced to random events such as milling cutter breakage and material damage or software and operator errors. On imported machines or pseudo machines manufactured on the basis of components from imported machines, you have to reckon with frequent material damage as a result of incorrect co-ordinates, so-called "lost positions" or in other words steps by stepper motors or pseudo servos.
• Quality. With professional machines, your edges or dimensions are maintained when cutting boards and you don't have to deal with problems such as missing right angles, jagged edges, burnt corners, delamination of the material during milling or non-linear cut-outs. On professional machines, what is drawn is cut or made.
• Life time. When you're a young entrepreneur, you always think you'll still be able to get everything done and grow the business with your strengths and the budget you have. It's hard to break the stereotypes and be smarter than you are. Although it's hard to believe, there isn't a lot of time and every bad decision will make itself known sooner or later. So respect your time and don't buy the problems, buy the solutions. Many people make the mistake of buying milling plotters at very tempting prices that they can afford at the time, but they will not contribute anything positive but will only waste their life time. Respect your time and consider buying a professional device with a lease or loan. You will gain 20 times your time.
• Risks. If you think that buying an expensive professional appliance will diminish your quality of life because you will have to pay instalments or repay leases, you are wrong. A professional machine will always earn for itself and for your needs, it won't let you down and it won't complain when you tighten the screw on it by taking large orders on which you can make a lucrative profit. You would never take such a risk with a non-professional machine, it is bound to let you down and let you know at the least opportune moment.
• Funding,

This is a seemingly very complex subject. If you decide to buy a machine and take out a lease or a loan, the machine will be paid back after a maximum of 5 years, usually after 1.5 years. If you want to use EU subsidies to buy such equipment, the whole procedure usually involves a year or so of wrangling with officials, applying for certificates and spending money on intermediary offices and paying any other fees for the project. Therefore, you need to know what you will face and plan well.

• EU grants.

They are not bad in themselves, but there are a lot of problems associated with them, which only come out during or at the end of the whole procedure, because the companies will not always tell you everything. Of the most important things you have to remember is that on machines purchased with EU funds costs are not deducted from income and the funds received are net, but you have to pay the amount with VAT, which you will recover, but only after the whole transaction and in addition only after a few months, it is such a small credit to you. Then there is the risk you run in the whole procedure related to the tender you are obliged to advertise in the Competitive Database. Usually, the companies you have previously estimated the price of the equipment you were interested in and included in your application win. This used to be the case, but now the new regulations dictate that tenders should only be advertised through the Competitive Database, which involves choosing the cheapest device with certain parameters. And everything would be ok if there were dishonest companies that automatically sign up to meet the conditions, but this is usually not the case. Companies come forward that assume you will choose their cheapest offer because you have no choice. By doing this, you will expose yourself to buying a device that is usually the cheapest and simplest device that does not meet any of the parameters you needed and the bidder has guaranteed. This is the trap that many inexperienced companies fall into, who have not included procedures in their tenders such as : a site visit to the manufacturer, tests of the device, etc.... where the bidder is forced to accept you and show you his solution and which you have influence over. Otherwise, they will offer you something similar that lacks functionality or even basic parameters and unfortunately you will be forced to purchase such a device. Once you have received your order and the shortcomings are discovered, you will only be left with a court case to recover the money and return the goods, which can be a multi-year process in which you will have to prove that the device is different from what the supplier described. So be careful and entrust the purchasing procedure to an experienced company. There are many more twists and turns to meet, but it is worth it if you are sensible and take into account the turbulent times, volatile device prices and long waiting times and inflation. It is the funds you raise that must be greater than the price you offered. Don't leave everything to the last minute. Tenders can be cancelled, but you must give yourself time to issue a new one with a proper declaration preventing companies offering equipment similar in name only and not meeting the conditions from taking part.

• Price

This is an important consideration in determining your needs, which you take into account when choosing a machine for your needs. It is usually high in professional machines and low in imported machines. In fact, toy machines are extremely low in price and reach up to 5 % of the value of CNC machines from professional companies, but traders increase these prices to the value of 51 % of the price of the others so as to avoid differences in the phrase 'abnormally low price' used in EU and purchasing agreements. Check the prices of similar machines on well-known portals, you will find the machine offered there in other colours or housings. Keep an eye out and do not be fooled.

Based on 20 years of experience and many different cases in thousands of CNC Machines production, I would certainly recommend to buy professional machine tools from Sentinel N series. All owners of these cnc machines have succeeded. Feel free to contact us.