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I think you forgot a zero there. A 3 axis CNC mill usually costs a few thousands of dollars. There are some crappy CNC engravers and dirt cheap 3D printers but the rigidity requirements are so low that they are a completely different class of machine.

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There is a pretty big range of prices. The cheap Chinese ones aren't necessarily well built but they work fine for hobbyist stuff.

Motors, motor controllers + motion system are cheap enough for affordable home robots I think. The problem is automating actual tasks with the limitations of the motor controls.

Unfortunately the controls problem gets much harder in a non-rigid system. Now you have to solve autonomy AND overcome poor sensing and manipulation.

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