About

Fabrication Machines is a comparison platform for digital fabrication equipment. It exists because the buying information in this category is unusually poor: manufacturer pages publish incomplete specifications, marketplace listings invent capabilities the maker never claimed, and most editorial coverage is a rewritten press release with an affiliate link attached.

The approach here is narrow and boring on purpose. Specifications are transcribed from the manufacturer's own published page and nowhere else. Scores are computed from those specifications by a formula published in full. Where a maker does not publish a number, the page says so rather than filling the gap. Prices are refreshed daily and presented as dated observations, not as facts.

CNC routers are the first category. The data model is built around verticals from the start - laser cutters, 3D printers, plasma and workshop equipment follow - so nothing about the architecture assumes CNC is the only subject.

How the site is organised

There are three kinds of page here and they do different jobs. The machine database holds one entry per machine with its transcribed specification, a computed score and a daily-checked price. The ranking pages slice that same database by the thing that usually decides a purchase - budget, envelope, material, or how forgiving a machine is to learn on - and the order on them is computed, never curated. The calculators are the part people return for: feed and speed, and chip load, both showing their working so you can check the arithmetic rather than trust it.

What we deliberately do not do is as important. We do not test machines, and we never describe a computed figure as a measurement. We do not accept payment for ranking position, and no brand has ever been given one. We do not fill gaps in a manufacturer's specification with estimates, because a plausible invented number is worse than a visible blank. Where a machine cannot be scored honestly - industrial equipment quoted per installation, for instance - it carries no score and the page explains why.

Corrections and contact

If a specification here contradicts a manufacturer's published sheet, the manufacturer is right and we want to hear about it. Every machine page carries the source URL the specs were transcribed from, so errors are straightforward to demonstrate. Corrections and enquiries: hello@fabricationmachines.com.

How the scoring works is documented at methodology; the commercial arrangements are set out in the affiliate disclosure.