Tufty, I'd seen that video a few months ago and cringed when I saw that it the major parts were made out of such a brittle plastic. I think that it's important to know what you intend to do with such a tool before you buy. Light engraving and milling in wood may be well accomplished with such a product (but maybe not). I suspect that when they skimp on materials they probably also pay little attention to quality control, backlash, and tolerances; three things even more important with the machining of small parts with finer details. Nevertheless, it is all about the users needs.
You make an important point about the feedback that you get with a manual machine. With experience, you can feel how much you can push feed rate and can detect when a dull or clogged bit needs to be addressed. On the other hand, a good knowledge of appropriate feed/speed rates combined with a machine that can automatically regulate them, can theoretically maintain better consistency. Being a fellow luddite, I just prefer the hands on approach. It makes me feel like I'm actually making the part instead of just ordering it.
Both this Gimp and the planet 6 looks unbelievably amazing, really impressed by the craftsmanship
Thanks for saying that. I have no regrets spending so much time and money making my keyboards. In addition to it being a creative outlet, I've learned a quite a bit about keyboards, ergonomics, and machining. I've also learned a little bit about electronics and a tiny bit about programing (at least enough to know that I'll leave that to others).
Spoiler alert!!! After finishing Planet 6, I flashed the firmware and found a few glitches in it. I'm guessing just a short or open circuit somewhere. I was so tired of working on it that I set it aside and haven't touched it since. I did the same to the Gimp a month ago and fear the same apathy has set in.
Part of the reason for the disinterest is that I've been doing so little CAD work lately, I haven't had the need for the features I built into P6. More than that, I still love the AlumaPlop for most of my desktop needs and, without the CAD demands, P6 was just forgotten. A few days ago, I was playing around with it and realized that I had forgotten how much I liked it. Everything about it: the feel, the location of all the buttons around the ball and especially the sound and action of the switches.
The Gimp is a different story. I think it just has a simple short in the system that I just don't have the emotional energy to track down right now. I'm actually excited to start using it but can't work up the motivation to crack it open to fix it. I'm in the middle of a big job and have several personal obligations that have to take precedence over my obsessions.
There. My confession is complete. I'm not the hero you don't deserve. I'm a fraud. I should be pelted with pad printed keycaps, wrapped in a membrane, and force fed rubber domes until I go kurplop.