[difalkner]

Welcome to the forum, Sarah! We do like photos so show us your shop, tools, projects, new CNC, etc. whenever you're ready.

David

 

[difalkner]

The spindle is probably a 775 and the collet ER11. And I have also seen specs in the range you indicated.

David

 

[difalkner]

As for Software, I use Fusion 360 (and there are literally 10000s of tutorials on youtube on how to design and use the software), it is free for hobbyists and start ups (so yes, you can use it for commercial purposes as long as your revenue is less than $500k a year.. I don't think that will be a problem, keep in mind, they did change the license recently, and I have not read the new license).

Until October the number was $100k or less but it is now $1,000 or less for the free version. Additionally, F360 is now a limited version in the free under $1k package. So if you make more than $1,000 annually in your hobby/business then you'll have to pony up for the subscription.

I use it almost exclusively and can't really do without the software so in October we jumped on the paid version. It is very powerful software and to me wasn't that difficult to learn, but it 'fits' the way I think and the CAM portion is very strong. However, you can download it and give it a shot for free. Take a look at the Lars Christensen videos to get up to speed on how to use the software.

David