Yeti SmartBench?

[Tigercubrider]

anybody used one?
Good? Bad? Ok?

 

[Deleted member 174758]

£5.6k from Toolstation? Plus another £2.2k if you want/need a 1/2in router to go with it? And let's face it with an 8mm 1000 watt router (as supplied) you are not going to be nest cutting sheet components to size or machining large profiles, such as raised panels. As far as I can see their web site is very light on technical data about motion control drive types, speeds and feeds, software support, etc in comparison to, say, OozNest. Looks more like the sort of tool a small sign maker might be able to use (because they tend to process a lot of 4 to 12mm thick plastics and sheet materials), but for nearly £8k (with a 1/2in head) I think there are potentially better solutions for many woodworkers. I suppose it all depends on what you intend to do with it - and with a CNC that should be your starting point, not price.

By way of comparison, when we had a CNC router we ended up at the end with a 6 tonne machine where the router heads were 8 and 10 HP servo units and the machine was capable of cutting 18mm plywood or MDF at 6 to 8 m/min (and that machine is regarded as small and slow these days - take a look at, for example, AXYZ's offerings to see what you can get by way of a small machine). As an aside, a pal of mine still runs a nearly 30 year old Wadkin UX CNC - 2-1/2D, 2 no. 5 HP heads, 4 no. air drill heads, 8 x 4ft table, 3m/min machining speed, servo motion control drives driving ball screws on both axes, 100 cfm vane type vacuum hold down unit - cost him £2k about 10 or 12 years back when it came out of an aerospace factory. The dust extractir was another £500 (very second hand). The upgrades to the CNC controller (Bosch CC100) together with the cost of the CAD and CAM software to drive it were more than the cost of the CNC

Sorry, but I am a sceptic - comes from having started with a ShopBot back in the 1990s...

 

[John Tigg]

i am the Yeti partner in the UK and would be more than happy to show you the CNC Smartbench. This machine is a portable CNC. You have see it to believe it. If you want to see it and have a demo contact me or just take a look at the fantastic things people are producing on the Yeti Tool Talk Group on Facebook. I have worked on large machines as well and this machine is excellent value for money.