Question Should I buy a Stepcraft ?

Hi everyone.
The title is a clue to my question really but I will explain further.
My name is Ollie.
I am a joiner and cabinetmaker and have a need for adding inlays and engraving personalised text or logos to some of my work.
So I have been looking into cnc machines quite intensively over the last week or so.
I have looked at X carve, shapeoko and OX but largely discounted these because the use of bearings running uncovered on aluminium track instantly puts me off. I have enough trouble with sawdust and resin build up on my spindle moulder carriage which is a steel bearing on a steel carrier.
Also the belt drives seem poorly designed and I do not want to be using a bosch colt router (I have one and dont even like it for normal routing) or similar. I want the spindle to be controlled directly with the rest of the machine commands.
I have also looked into commercial machines but cannot afford £5000 or more for these.
I think the 600 size would be big enough but would probably get the stoney cnc spindle instead of the hf500. The machine comes out at just over £2000 as I configured it.
For me that is quite a lot of money to invest.
My concearn is really can it do what I need it to reliably and consistantly as required.
I will only be doing small one offs with it not what you would call production at all. But if I need it it must be ready to go.
Accuracy is my concearn not speed.
I would like to do some 3d stuff but quite a lot will be cutting inlays and engraving.
I think I can build it fine as I am used to working with machinery and enjoy building things anyway.
However this forum does contain a few worrying threads about reliability and people struggling with these machines.

I must decide soon.
Any comments welcome.

Thanks and sorry to ramble on!!

Hi Ollie,
For every builder who has run into difficulties, there are probably hundreds who haven't!! If you are "wise" to machinery, and are obviously a practical person, then I believe you will have few problems in achieving a successful build.

Based on my own experience, I would advise you not to rush the build and to study the excellent build manual thoroughly before you start. IMHO you would be wise to do a mechanical assembly run first without wiring everything as you go - it is so much easier to get everything adjusted correctly without being hampered by cabling.

It is very important that the machine is mounted and adjusted on a flat stable surface - a minor twist (just a few mm) could well make it impossible to get the "tuning" correct. I bought the aluminium T slot baseplate for my S420, this makes for much better rigidity, and have never experienced any mechanical problems. Using UCCNC and UC100 allow me to mill/etch pcb's with track widths and spacing accurate to better than .003", so letter engraving or inlays should present no real problems.

Hope this helps you in your decision making process.

Regards.

Peter