Desktop routers
3018 to 6040 class. Wood, plastic and — on the rigid ones — aluminium.
Desktop CNC machines · sourced, checked, test cut
What do youneed to cut?
Tell us the material, not the model number.
Which desktop CNC actually cuts aluminium, which only cuts wood, and what it costs delivered. Machine selection, test cuts and upgrade parts sourced from the Chinese factories that build them.
From your part to a machine that cuts it
How machine sourcing works
Describe the part
Material, size, tolerance and how many a week. Not a model number.
We shortlist on the numbers
Frame, drive train and spindle, with an honest statement of what each one will not do.
Test cut in your material
Your alloy, a stated cutter, recorded feed and speed, and the part measured.
Landed cost quote
Machine, tooling, crating, freight and duty, itemised before anything is bought.
Purchase and check
We pay the supplier, then check the machine against the packing list and the specification.
Crate and ship
Gantry locked, spindle braced, rust preventive and desiccant, on a route that carries the weight.
Machines, tooling and upgrade parts
What we source
Benchtop mills
Heavy, slow and stiff. The class that takes a real cut in steel.
Machine kits
Cheaper because the assembly, squaring and tuning are yours.
Spindles
Air and water cooled, with the VFD matched and configured.
Cutters
Single flute for aluminium, compression for ply, coated for steel.
Hobby machines
What changes between the price bands, and which upgrades are worth it.
Guides
Guides & Resources
Desktop CNC machines for metal
Aluminium, brass and mild steel on a benchtop machine. What rigidity you need, what spindle, what cutter, and where the honest limits are on each class of machine.
Read guideCNC router vs CNC mill
They look similar and they are built around opposite assumptions. Speed versus torque, area versus rigidity, and how to tell which one your parts actually want.
Read guideBuying your first CNC router
What to decide before you shop, which specifications matter and which are decoration, and the mistakes that cost people their first machine.
Read guideEntry-level CNC router budget
The machine is not the budget. Tooling, workholding, extraction, freight and duty, and what changes at each price band — with the costs people forget written down.
Read guide