I see that some people here had originally got the journeyman models and now regret it and want to upgrade to foreman or have already upgraded. I am waiting for my journeyman to arrive some time soon. It was the available space that guided me. So, I am curious, what kind of projects make you wish you have got foreman or make you wish to upgrade?
I chose the Elite Journeyman because of the space limitation in my garage. It’s was more compact and would still handle tiling 48-inch wide stock.
Thanks, Larry. So… it seems that Journeyman should be good for pretty much everything. Nobody could come up with a shareable reason to want the Foreman version :).
Hey D,
the Journeyman (120 Ă— 80 cm workarea) is already really a beast, but I needed the 120 cm workarea width. But the Journeyman depth fits in most garages/sheds/small workshops.
Here’s my set. You can ignore the double layered wasr board as that was an accommodation I made before fully understanding all the adjustments i could make to the z bracket.
PS: Not only the Foreman has more depth that takes space that is not present in all workshops, one thing to consider is also that it is difficult to lean over the Foreman’s workarea from the front to clamp workpieces at its workarea end, it would be necessary to be able to walk around the machine. I consider this already necessary for smaller machines, I mean to have a door on both ends (like shown here), but with the Foreman (120 × 120 cm ≙ 48″ × 48″ workarea, total table depth at least 165 cm ≙ 65″), this would add even more space needed for the corridor on the back. Even if I think the rule “buy the biggest you can” in most cases makes sense, at a certain size it rather depends on what you intend to produce and if you have plenty of space.
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This is what I was curious about. Why did you feel that you need 120cm of the width? Just trying to understand the limits of the Journeyman.
These are very good points. I totally did not think about it this way. In my setup I am planning to have it be the wall, close to the corner of the workshop. As usual, we have to know when to stop and know the limits.
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1F recommends two layers of the 3/4 spoil board. You do not think it is a good idea? Nice setup. I am still trying to figure out the best way to incorporate a vertical clamping surface and, possibly use the opening for the rotary in the future.
Hey D,
mainly for the string instruments projects. We bought the Journeyman (120 × 80 cm ≙ 48″ × 32″ workarea) because the top of a double bass or of a bass viola da gamba fits, or a set of side blanks and and back blanks for a double bass or a guitar, on a vacuum table to reduce their thickness. Or a go-through neck for an electric bass. That are the biggest parts a luthier/violinmaker usually makes.
When we took the decision, Journeyman was not yet available and not even in sight, nonetheless we ordered the Original Woodworker X-35 (80 × 80 cm, ≙ 32″ × 32″ ) that was the biggest Onefinity machine availabe at that time (and thereby decided not to buy a CNC-STEP, a Sorotec, a Laguna, or the smallest Felder Hammer).
The machine workarea of the Woodworker was in fact not the size we wanted, but it was the biggest machine offered by Onefinity, so we considered that we would mill some parts by tiling, or diagonally as is demonstrated for a bass neck in this video on a small Austrian CNC machine.
Due to the extremely long backorder delay, the machine had not been shipped when the new Journeyman came out, so we altered our order then, paid the difference, and now with the Journeyman we have a machine that is large enough for all projects.
Actually I do recommend 2 layers, especially if (like me) you’re new to this. I plunged through the first layer on my first day. And was happy to have the second layer.
(In this instance I explained away the second layer because I was politely criticized on other threads.)
Thank you for the insights. We still have not seen and reasons for people to have a foreman, but that is OK :). My machine has just arrived today. Now, I am excited and have to start working on the table for it. Thanks again.
The video is seriously cool. Really gives sense of how a CNC machine can be used. Something to reflect on. Thanks.
Grats on the new machine. Out of curiosity; when did you order yours and what was your order number? I ordered mine Nov. 4th with order number 42832. Sold my original Journeyman and am jonesing for my new one. 
The order was 43281, ordered on Nov 24th. X50 Journeyman. What are you getting? Foreman? Why? This is actually what the topic is about.
Didn’t mean to step on any topic toes; just anxious to get my new machine. I’m getting a Journeyman Elite. I stuck to the Journeyman for the size. A foreman would have been too deep for my space. I could probably have jammed a Foreman up against the wall, but reaching the back would have been a PIA. In the 18 months I had my x50 Journeyman I never needed anything larger. If I had the space I’d get the Foreman. You never know what you’ll be doing in the future and I’d rather pay the extra money now than later.
I was not concern with offtopic. I was just hoping to get a reason for a Foreman. No luck :).
Both the Journeyman and the Foreman need to tile to cut a full sheet of plywood, but they can both do it. Two tiling operations vs one tilling operation. I’ve only needed to run a full sheet twice and had to pull my journeyman out from the wall to make it happen. I would’ve had to do the same if I had a Foreman. The only advantage for me for a Foreman would be running pieces between 3x4 and 4x4, which hasn’t been a size I’ve needed yet.
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