CNC Machine & Machine Tool Finance
Machining centres, lathes, mills and borers — new, used and ex-demo, funded across 60+ lenders.
- Whole-of-market — 60+ lenders searched
- All credit histories considered
- Decisions in as little as 24 hours
Whole-of-market — 60+ lenders searched, including
A machining centre is a twenty-year asset bought in a single afternoon’s decision, and the funding usually gets less thought than the spindle spec. It should get more. How a machine tool is funded decides what you can afford to buy, whether the tooling comes with it, and whether you are out of pocket for six months while it is built. We arrange CNC and machine tool finance for jobbing shops, subcontract machinists and manufacturers, new and used.
What you can fund
Every asset has its own page: how lenders treat it, what buyers specify, the questions people ask, and what we have actually funded.
| Asset | What it covers | Page |
|---|---|---|
| Vertical machining centre | The workhorse of nearly every UK machine shop, and the easiest machine tool in the country… | Read the guide |
| Horizontal machining centre | Pallet-changing horizontals are bought to run lights-out, and the funding needs to account for the cell… | Read the guide |
| 5-axis machining centre | Five-axis machines carry the highest ticket in most shops and the highest expectations, so funders look… | Read the guide |
| CNC lathe | Turning centres are the most traded machine tool in Britain, which is exactly why funders are… | Read the guide |
| Turn-mill centre | Done-in-one machines take three setups out of a part, and the funding case is usually about… | Read the guide |
| Sliding head lathe | Sliding head machines earn their money overnight on bar work, and a funder reads the bar… | Read the guide |
| Bar feeder | A bar feeder is what turns a lathe into an unattended machine, and funders read it… | Read the guide |
| Twin spindle lathe | Two spindles and two turrets exist to halve cycle time, so the funding conversation is about… | Read the guide |
| Manual lathe | Every shop still needs one, but the low ticket value makes a manual lathe an awkward… | Read the guide |
| Bed mill | Between the manual turret mill and the full machining centre sits a class of machine that… | Read the guide |
| Boring machine | Borers are bought to machine things nothing else in the shop can hold, and the install… | Read the guide |
| Surface grinder | Grinding is where the tolerance is actually held, and a decent surface grinder outlives most of… | Read the guide |
| Cylindrical grinder | Once a part is hardened, the grinder is the only machine that can save it, which… | Read the guide |
| Tool and cutter grinder | Cutter grinding is a software business with a machine attached, and the licence side of the… | Read the guide |
| Wire EDM | Wire erosion cuts what cannot be milled, and funders judge these machines on the generator and… | Read the guide |
| Spark erosion machine | Die-sink eroding puts detail into hardened tool steel that no cutter will reach, and it is… | Read the guide |
| Fibre laser cutter | A fibre laser is usually the largest single purchase a sheet metal subcontractor ever makes, and… | Read the guide |
| Press brake | Bending is where the money is made in sheet metal, and press brakes are among the… | Read the guide |
| Guillotine | A shear is the least glamorous machine on the shop floor and one of the most… | Read the guide |
| Punch press | Turret punching still beats a laser on formed features and louvres, but the tooling library is… | Read the guide |
| Waterjet cutter | Waterjet cuts what a laser cannot touch, and the pump is the part a funder actually… | Read the guide |
| Plasma cutter | Plasma remains the cheapest way to get a profiling table into a fabrication shop, and the… | Read the guide |
| Tube bender | Tube bending is a tooling business as much as a machine business, and the bend tooling… | Read the guide |
| CMM and inspection equipment | A CMM is usually bought because a customer approval demands it, which makes the timing urgent… | Read the guide |
| Tool presetter | A presetter takes tool setting off the machine and puts it on a bench, which is… | Read the guide |
| Metal bandsaw | Sawing is the first operation on most jobs and the one most shops under-invest in until… | Read the guide |
| Robot and cobot loading cell | Automation deals are funded on the hardware, and the integration engineering that makes the cell work… | Read the guide |
| Air compressor | Nothing in a machine shop runs without air, and compressors are usually bought in a hurry… | Read the guide |
Looking at a CNC machine for sale?
Most people reading this already have a specific machine in front of them — a dealer listing, an auction lot or a quotation — and the question is not which machine but how to pay for it without emptying the account. Send us the listing and we will tell you what it funds at, over what term, and what the quotation is hiding. That costs nothing and there is no credit check to ask.
Buying a CNC machine — new, used or ex-demo
New machines come with warranty, current controls and a build slot. Used machines from a dealer or a closing shop can be a third of the price for most of the capability, and the used market in the UK is deep and well served. Ex-demo and ex-exhibition machines sit between the two and are often the best value of all.
All three are fundable. What a lender wants on a used CNC machine is provenance — serial number, year of manufacture, spindle hours where the control records them, service history and clear title. A machine with a documented history from a known dealer is a straightforward application. One bought privately with no paperwork is not impossible, but expect questions.
The control system matters more than the year
A fifteen-year-old machine with a supported Fanuc, Siemens or Heidenhain control is a better asset than a ten-year-old machine on a control nobody services any more. Residual value follows supportability, and lenders take a view on it whether or not they say so. If you are choosing between two used machines on price, the one with the mainstream control will usually fund better and be worth more when you come to move it on.
Tooling, software and installation
This is where machine tool deals go wrong. The quotation includes the machine, but also work holding, tooling packages, probing, a CAM licence, rigging into position, power supply work, commissioning and operator training. On a serious machining centre that can be a fifth of the total.
Lenders fund the machine. Soft costs are treated separately — some will take a percentage, some none. Raise it before you place the order and it is a structuring question. Raise it afterwards and it is a cash flow problem. Send us the full quotation, not the machine line.
Build slots, deposits and imported machines
Most machine tools are built to order with lead times running months, and the builder will want a deposit at order and a stage payment before shipment. Finance normally pays on delivery and acceptance. That gap is real money and it is the single thing worth sorting first. Some lenders pay suppliers directly and will stage against the build; others will not touch it. If the machine is coming from Europe, Japan or Taiwan, tell us at the start.
Funding a shop, not just a machine
If you are adding capacity rather than replacing a machine, it is usually worth funding the whole step at once — machine, tooling, and the extraction or compressed air it needs — rather than three separate conversations. And if your floor is full of owned machines, asset refinance can raise the deposit for the next one without disturbing production.
What to send us
The supplier quotation in full, whether the machine is new, used or ex-demo, and the build or collection date. If there is contracted work behind it, say so — capacity bought against named work is the easiest case there is. See the machinery finance hub for how the wider panel works. No credit check to ask.
How it works
Tell us what you need
One quick conversation about the asset and how the repayments need to work.
We search 60+ lenders
As an independent broker we find the right structure and rate — not one lender’s products.
You get funded
Indicative decisions in as little as 24 hours, then we manage it through to payout.
Estimate your repayments
Asset finance is quoted on a flat rate, so that is what the buttons show, with the equivalent APR beside it. Your exact rate depends on the asset, the term, the deposit and the lender.
Prime is an established, profitable business with clean credit. Specialist covers newer businesses and credit that needs explaining — the asset itself carries part of the risk, which is why finance is often available where an unsecured loan is not.
Representative example: on Hire Purchase, borrowing £25,000 over 48 months at a 5.15% flat rate (equivalent to 9.9% APR representative), you would repay around £628 a month; total amount repayable approximately £30,150, of which £5,150 is the cost of finance. This calculator is for illustration only — it is not a quote or an offer of finance, and the rate and repayments you are offered will depend on the asset, term, deposit and your circumstances. CW Asset Finance is a credit broker, not a lender, and will receive a commission from the lender that funds your agreement. All finance is subject to status, affordability and lender approval.
Rates shown are indicative flat rates with the equivalent APR alongside — the two are not the same number. Indicative only and does not constitute a quote or an offer of finance. Subject to status and lender approval.
Frequently asked questions
Can I finance a used CNC machine?
Does the age of the machine or the control matter more?
Will the finance cover tooling and CAM software?
How do stage payments to the machine builder work?
How long can a CNC machine be financed over?
Do you cover my area?
Get your quote
Tell us what you’re looking to fund and Conor will come back to you personally — usually the same day.
Prefer to talk? Call 0333 772 4864 · serving Leeds, York, Harrogate, Wakefield, Selby, Tadcaster & across North & West Yorkshire.
Machines we fund
266 machines named across 28 types of CNC & machine tools. This is not a restricted list — it is what we are asked for most often. If the machine you are buying is not here it almost certainly still funds: your supplier quote is what the agreement is written against.