This has been one of the most challenging books to write, but it's also been relatively free of major bumps and technical glitches. And this is all due in part to a variety of individuals who have offered up their skills, their knowledge, and their advice when needed.

First, we (Jim and Patrick) would like to thank the amazing team at Apress. Books don't just come into existence on their own, and these two authors are indebted to the hard work of each and every Apress team member that was involved in this project. Two big cheers go first to Dominic Shakeshaft and Jonathan Gennick who took a chance and saw the potential for this book. Another cheer goes to our editor, Kelly Moritz, who patiently worked with her two authors to make certain every word, every figure, and every drawing was as accurate as possible... and delivered on time. We didn't always make our deadlines and sometimes we missed turning in a picture or two, but Kelly was a trooper and has done an outstanding job in making our book a better one. And speaking of making the book better, we want to offer up a huge thank you to our copyeditor, Damon Larson, who took our chapters, cleaned up the grammar and spelling, offered up some great suggestions for improvements, and was a pleasure to work with. And please flip to page 2 where you'll see a list of all the Apress folks involved in getting this book on the shelves; thank you all for helping us get the book completed.

In addition to the Apress team, we were extremely lucky to have two other individuals watching over our shoulders (sometimes literally) and making sure we were as accurate as possible with our writing. Jim Burt and Darrell Kelly (Jim's Dad) were our technical reviewers, and both of them now have their own working CNC machines. They caught our errors, asked questions, suggested clarifications, and continually looked for ways to help make the reader's job easier when it comes to building his or her own machine. Thank you both for the time you put into not only building your machines but also reading over the chapters numerous times.

Patrick wishes to thank all of the buildyourcnc.com readers and the ones that sent in their comments helping the development of the site through the years. He would also like to acknowledge his wife (Ana) for putting up with the dust and keeping his feet on the ground.

Jim would like to thank Russ Revels, Kevin Burkett, and members of the Artistic Woodturners (Pensacola, FL) for their help, support, and interest with this book. Jim also wants to thank his wife (Ashley) for her patience during those numerous weekends spent building his machine and his friend and co-author, Patrick, for helping him step into the world of CNC machining.