# Tooling & Workshop Setup A brief introduction to tools, cutters, and auxiliary workshop items that support machining and appear throughout the projects in this documentation. Many of these are familiar to experienced users, but they are also introduced clearly for beginners so no prior knowledge is required. The tool choices shown here are intentionally practical and budget-friendly — not because advanced equipment isn’t useful, but because accessible tools make it easier to learn, experiment, and progress. High-end solutions, like self-zeroing vises, are impressive pieces of equipment, but investing at that level rarely makes sense on a small machine where the surrounding costs would exceed the machine itself. The guiding idea is balance: the tools should match the machine. A desktop CNC is not an industrial milling center, so investing in equipment that costs more than the machine itself rarely adds value. The focus here is on practical tools that support learning and growth at an appropriate scale. {% hint style="info" %} The selection here stays focused on tools that make sense for a compact CNC setup: useful, not overwhelming, and reasonably priced. There are many more options out there — this is just a practical place to start. {% endhint %} --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://miwicnc.gitbook.io/miwicnc/tooling-and-workshop-setup.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.