The real price of a table
The list price of a 1,500 × 3,000 table (€8,000 to €15,000 for a serious machine, less for self-assembly kits) is only the beginning. Add the cutter with machine torch (€2,000 to €4,000), the computer and its CAM software (€500 to €2,000), the water tray or extraction (€1,000 to €3,000), pallet delivery, rail levelling, and two to five days of training. A complete station exceeds €15,000 in most workshops.
The real price of a benchtop robot
ArcDroid: €2,690 incl. VAT, with its controller, stylus and torch holder. It uses the plasma cutter you already have, or a 45 A pilot-arc unit at €900 to €2,000. No computer, no licence. The only optional items: the FlexTable (€525) if you want a dedicated mobile table, or the X2 module (€355) to go to 1,200 mm wide. A complete station stays under €5,000.
Space and mobility
The table takes 4 to 6 m² forever, plus the sheet-handling space around it. The robot takes 50 cm on a bench, sits on the sheet itself for large parts, and goes to the job site or the farm in the boot of a car — with the cutter, in a pickup.
Large sheets and batches
Here the table wins without argument: a 3 m sheet is cut in one go, with dozens of parts nested and an operator doing something else meanwhile. The robot covers 660 × 380 mm per position and moves for the rest; the X2 module automates the move to 1,200 mm. For parts under a metre, in small batches, it does exactly the same job. For nesting full sheets all day, no.
Training and daily use
A table requires mastering the drawing → CAM → G-code → control chain. It is a skill you learn, and often only one employee in the workshop masters it. A tracing robot is understood in an hour: lay the part down, follow its outline, cut. Everyone uses it, so it is used every day — that is often what makes the difference in profitability.
The verdict
You cut full sheets in batches, you have the space and a trained person: the table. You cut one-offs or small batches, under 1.2 m, you are short of space, you want the whole workshop to be able to use it, or you work on site: the robot. Many workshops equipped with a table add a robot for everything urgent — and find that the table runs less than before.
