Hi, I'm Will. I make sawdust on purpose.
I started Spindle Index because buying my first CNC meant forty open tabs, three forums arguing with each other, and spec sheets that measured things differently. I wanted one place that lined everything up honestly — same units, same questions, plain answers.
Every take on this site is mine. When a company sends me a machine it's disclosed on that page, and it gets the same treatment as one I paid for: real projects, real cut quality, and the stuff that annoyed me.
Six numbers, no mystery.
Every machine gets scored 1–10 on the same six things. The overall score is a weighted average — rigidity, ease of use and value count most, because that's what decides whether you keep using the thing.
Rigidity · 20%
Frame, drive and motion. How hard you can push before the cut chatters.
Precision · 15%
Repeatability and backlash in the real world, not on the box.
Work area · 10%
Usable X × Y × Z, scored against what this class of machine offers.
Ease of use · 20%
Assembly, first-cut time, workholding, and how friendly the software is.
Support & software · 15%
Docs, community, parts availability, and whether the company answers.
Value · 20%
What you get for the money once you add the router, dust shoe and bits.
The rules I keep.
Some machines on this site were bought with my own money. Some were sent by the manufacturer for review. When it's the second one, the machine's page says so, right at the top of my take.
No company sees a review before it's published, gets to edit it, or pays for placement. Scores don't go up because a machine was free — if anything, I'm harder on those. Links to manufacturers may become affiliate links in the future; if they do, that will be stated here and they will never change the order of anything.
Prices and specs come from manufacturer listings and are re-checked on every update. If you spot something out of date, email me and I'll fix it.
Send a machine. Get a review people actually trust.
Spindle Index is where hobby buyers come to make the final call. If you make desktop CNC routers, mills, spindles, dust collection, workholding or tooling, I'd love to put it through real projects.
A long-term review
Unboxing to first cut to month three. Real projects in wood, plastic and aluminum, with photos of the actual cut quality.
A place in the Index
Your machine in the comparison table, every chart, the compare tool and the buyer quiz — matched to the buyers it actually fits.
Honest, fixable feedback
What a first-time owner struggles with, written up for your team before it shows up in your support inbox.