Hey Everyone.
First off, a big thank you to everyone who has contributed posts to this forum. While I am a new member to the forum, I have been reading a lot of the posts for the past few months as I have been building my own machine and they have proved to be a valuable collection of knowledge and tech advice. I just purchased my Mach 4 license as I just got my system set up and decided it would be a good idea to join the forum. I have learned so much and would love to be able to help other newbies out as I was helped out.
I live in the NW corner of the continental US and work part time as a general contractor building/remodeling homes, and part/full time in the State Legislature. This design/build has been a great learning experience as well as a good mental break from politics. I have an Associates degree in Electronic Technologies, but it had been years since I had done anything largely related so it was good to stretch those muscles again and dust out the mental cobwebs.
Part of the project was to challenge myself and see if I could build one, the second part was to have a tool to design potential products or experiments or concepts. My original design specs were to be able to handle a 4x8 sheet with 6" clearance. After reading many of the "I wish I had knowns" I decided to jump in with both feet and go big or go home. I'm a perfectionist so it also had to look professional, or at least as professional as a home-build can look with nothing more than a drill press, chopsaw, table saw and skilsaw. That and a borrowed Harbor Freight wire feed welder, Amazon, Ebay, Craigslist and AliExpress. I set the budget for around $5-6,000 and am right around there though I lost count with all the random screws and other misc parts.