My woodworking often uses absurd software; for example, the tool I use Fusion 360 is one of the most extraordinary programs I've ever used. It embeds so much engineering and technology in service of making my life easier. The end result is a static "program" that I send to my CNC which creates art that could be made by an extremely skilled woodworker- but I just sit here waiting for the machine to do the work. I actually enjoy this much more than spending the hours to carve the same work with my own hands, but I also do enjoy the visceral experience of using analog hand tools. I mostly start with STL meshes sold on etsy.
THere is a programmatic aspect, too: Fusion360's modeller has a Python API that lets you programmatically build and evaluate designs. I rarely use this, but it does come in handy. For one project, where I wanted to make a 3D topo-style map of California (basically this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZkQ8pA_TLY) it was a great opportunity to learn geo (using the great GIS package, "OS4Geo", especially QGIS), turn that geo info into a mesh, and then render it in wood.
Stay-at-home-for-COVID made my life a lot easier, as I could start a carving in the morning and let it go all day while sitting nearby and programming.
I have a Genmitsu 4040 Pro https://www.sainsmart.com/products/genmitsu-4040-pro-semi-as... with the upgraded XZ (if you experience chatter, you can send support an email with a photo and they will send a replacement part; I just installed it yesterday and it's greatly improved my results). I haven't really accessorized it, other than to replace the included spindle with a Dewalt 611 router.
Before that I had an XCarve but it was just too big and not rigid enough. I owned several early Shapeokos, which were simply not rigid enough. The 4040 pro is the first router I've had that's actually worked the way I expected (and even then, it clearly has some issues) in the cost window I care about.
CNC brings challenges (and joys) that 3d printing does not have. You have to spend a lot more time thinking about the tools and their paths, mounting the work in the CNC, dealing with dust, etc, etc, but it's really reawrding to hand somebody a carving and see them blown away by the results.
That price is not bad at all for that kind of machine, especially if it's stable. My dad had an XCarve for a long while but he eventually just gave up on it. He was going to give it to me but I was reading about it and it just seemed like more bother than it was worth, especially given the physical space required.
yes, the xcarve was nice but took up a big corner of my garage and honestly I wasn't cutting stuff near 1m x 1m and the ~400 x 400mm of the 4040 pro is more reasonable. It's stable (rigid) but not extremely so. You will not be able to make cuts as deep as you want, and aluminum will be challenging. But it's great for carving up a hunk of figured maple into art, as well as many other workflows.
There are things like the MPCNC ,and building your own design with OpenBuilds, but I don't recommend them unless designing, building, and maintaining is what you want to spend your time doing.
THere is a programmatic aspect, too: Fusion360's modeller has a Python API that lets you programmatically build and evaluate designs. I rarely use this, but it does come in handy. For one project, where I wanted to make a 3D topo-style map of California (basically this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZkQ8pA_TLY) it was a great opportunity to learn geo (using the great GIS package, "OS4Geo", especially QGIS), turn that geo info into a mesh, and then render it in wood.
Stay-at-home-for-COVID made my life a lot easier, as I could start a carving in the morning and let it go all day while sitting nearby and programming.