The Panel Tech was NOT designed to be an entry level machine or to be cheap. It was designed to be a rigid and reliable one-shift continuous production duty machine with excellent performance, but at a very competitive price. We have learned that when end users install a CNC Router in their shop, many will soon base their entire livelihood on that machine. Above all, when designing the Panel Tech, C.R. Onsrud decided that we would not cut any corner, or make any compromise that would result in a CNC Router with which you wouldn't be comfortable making your living. There are many shortcuts we could have taken to make a machine that could sell for a cheaper price, but it would just cost you more money down the road. If a machine is down an extra time or two per year, has to wait for parts instead of producing them, doesn't last, or simply can't do what you bought it for, all because it was built to a lower standard, any initial savings will disappear in a flash. At the end of the day, with its world-class support and unusually low operating maintenance cost, the Panel Tech won't end up being any more expensive than the lightweight, intermittent duty, heavily discounted, entry level machines.

The Panel Tech was designed and built to be a lower cost alternative to our most popular Panel Pro Series, without many of the compromises of entry level machines. The Panel Tech uses a large, thick walled, tubular steel bridge. The Panel Tech also employs the same dual direct drive, dual support, closed frame and moving gantry design as our Panel Pro, instead of the single drive, single support, cantilevered, unsupported, open-ended design found on many entry level machines. It uses only slightly smaller vertical columns than the Panel Pro and a very similar one-piece, self-supportive, heat-treated, stress-relieved and normalized, thick-walled, tubular steel base for unrivaled weight, mass, rigidity, durability, feeds and speeds at this price point. To trim more cost, the Panel Tech receives a smaller capacity 8-position tool changer, a 12HP, 4-Pole, reversible main router spindle, a slightly scaled back support package, smaller electronics that still give it an impressive performance, and the Panel Tech Series has less available optional equipment than the Panel Pro. We have trimmed away some of the extras on the Panel Pro to make the Panel Tech, without compromising the capability of the machine to perform, or to last and produce. After all of the trimming, we were left with an excellent, cost-effective CNC Router that we're still proud to call an Onsrud.