Earlier this year, I decided that I wanted a cnc for my shop. My shop is small and the footprint of this machine needed to fit within a 4'x5' envelope.
I wanted a machine that could:
- process a 3'x4' part,
- be turn-key (i know very little about CNC's),
- be able to have a vacuum hold-down,
- ATC,
- dust boot with 4" port
- a price that fits within my budget.
After researching various vendor offerings, I always came back to the Blurry Customs machine. I was extremely nervous about going down this path as I couldn't find reviews anywhere on the web. There were half-started attempts... but they seemed to stop at... my machine has arrived... but never went any further. Never-the-less, I started communicating with Alex Burt and found him to be knowledgeable, personable, and believable. His attendance at the 2015 Ceramics Expo where he partnered with some big-name vendors also gave me comfort. The final piece was being able to talk to one of his existing customers. After some long talks with my wife, i decided that i was going to go down this path. It was either this machine... or no machine. All of my friends, acquaintances, and co-workers knew how nervous I was... but I did go into this fully aware of what I might be getting myself into. As they say... Buyer-beware!!!
It was always my intention to post a review once I had the machine up and running, so that I could give honest feedback as to its quality and precision. Unfortunately, my machine is not yet operational (after 7 months)... and so I leave that for perhaps a future thread.
I hope that this information will help others who are considering a purchase to be more fully aware going forward.
Following is the history of my dealings with Blurry Customs. It is not a happy tale, it is not over yet... and perhaps may never be. All of the proceeding information have been gleamed from the roughly 200 emails and phone calls that Alex and I have exchanged.
March 2015
12th: received an email from Alex regarding specs of machine: Turn-key, complete with laptop pre-loaded with software configured for the machine
18th: Alex pointed me to the 2015 Ceramics Expo where he is partnered with some big name players. Gives me confidence to move forward.
19th: talked to one of his previous customers who has had his cnc for a few years. Happy with the machine, but cautioned that it will take a bit of time for Alex to complete the order.
April 2015
7th: ordered the machine and wired the deposit to Alex
7th: Alex states that he has ordered material, but his production challenge right now is dealing with the Ceramics Expo at the end of the month... building and testing will start after the show is over and once the parts have arrived
May 2015
4th: back from show and they have the frames for my cnc and should have the remaining parts by the end of the week.
11th: Alex will have ship date by the end of the week
18th: Machine should ship by the 25th
29th: Alex is ready to ship and asks for remaining payment
June 2015
2nd: Shipping company has no record of cnc being shipped
3rd: talk to Alex on the phone. Says the spindle motor had a vibration and they need to replace it. It will take a couple weeks for the parts
to arrive. Offers free upgrade to servo motors. (Note: he had originally told me that he used Technic brand servos... but what I ended up getting
was a Chinese brand).
19th: shipment made, Alex sends tracking number.
27th: Machine Arrives. Absolutely no crating, machine is zip tied to a pallet with a cardboard box over the spindle and a heavy plastic cover
over the machine and stapled to the pallet. It traveled some 1500 miles like this!!! Machine appears intact with the exception of a few missing/broken plastic parts.
27th: Control PC and Dust boot were not included in shipment.
27th: Alex confirms that the PC and dust boot were separated from the main shipment and he would send them out immediately the next morning.
29th: emailed Alex the pictures of how the cnc arrived at my doorstep and expressed my concern that it could have been protected better... no
response from Alex.
July 2015
8th: No package from Alex yet. He apologizes and says it took longer than expected to get in some of the parts that I requested... it shipped
yesterday.
17th: still no package... Ask Alex to check with his shipping company to track it down.
22nd: Alex reports back that he doesn't have my shipping address (he was right... he didn't... so he couldn't possibly have shipped earlier without it).
24th: Ask Alex where I should hang the control panel? The cables aren't long enough for me to mount on the end of the cnc. I end up having to
lie it on the floor on its back.
30th: Alex apologizes (again) and says that everything is ironed out and shipping shows a delivery of this Tuesday.
August 2015
17th: Came back from holidays... yup... still no parts.
19th: Phone Alex... he has to re-order parts??!!!
24th: Alex will ship via courier tomorrow
25th: Asked Alex if the parts shipped
26th: The parts went out last nite (ya right!)
September 2015
1st: Still no parts. I phone Alex and leave an urgent Message. I send Alex an email telling him how nervous and upset I am at the run-around that I am getting. I tell him that my days of trusting him are over and now is the time for him to decide how our relationship will be defined going forward. I now want tracking numbers with any promise from him that a shipment was made.
1st: Alex sends me a tracking number.
3rd: package is at customs... no invoice is attached (I specifically told Alex that he had to attach an invoice itemized with country of origin and value for each part shipped)
3rd: he sends me the invoice
5th: Received the package... emailed Alex that it wasn't apparent how the dust shoe fit onto the machine (it also appeared to be broken) and there was no place for the air lines to hook up to. I wanted a dust boot with 4" hose connection... he sent one with a 2 1/2" port. Also... the PC has Mach3.. but only the demo version... and appears that the software has not been tuned to my machine.
7th: Alex remotes into the PC and sets up the Mach3 software (doesn't have much time today to do all the setup). The servo motor hits the frame when moving the gantry to the limit switch. Alex suggests that I put a block against the frame to overcome this problem (what???)
7th: I ordered a 3'x4' machine with the assumption that I would be able to process that size of a sheet. The bed can handle it... but the spindle travel does not allow for it. I end up fabricating a part to move wires out of the way and increase processing size... still now what I asked for... but better than before. Looking more and more like a DIY machine to me.
7th: Started up the spindle and tried different speeds... at 12000 rpm, the spindle is vibrating and howling and gettin very hot... yikes!
7th: X Axis wobbles.. question whether the screw is straight.
10th. Alex remotes in to the PC again. He had the spindle calibrated for 24000 rpm rather than 18000... spindle runs smooth now.
10th. Setup the software to handle the tool changer.. .things are looking promising.
10th. Appears Alex forgot(???) to add the required solenoid to handle the dust boot hookup. If I understand correctly, i am now going to have to
modify his machine and add electrical wires to the existing bundle... do i hear DIY?
10th. One final test before we end our online session. We do a dry run where mach3 will pick up tool1, run a pattern, change to tool2 and do another. Everything is going good until it picks up tool 2. The spindle ramps up and starts its pattern... but the bit is barely rotating. We stop the program and Alex asks me to give the tool holder a "wiggle". It snaps up and into place... we continue on and the bit is spinning properly. Alex suggests that we unload the tool manually (hmmm... has he encountered this issue before?). Alas... it is stuck in the spindle. He suggests taking a piece of wood (2x4) and tapping against the side of the spindle, just above the tool holder... nothing. I tap harder... and harder... nothing. After several minutes of trying different things, Alex says that he will have to ship a new spindle. (OMG!!!)
12th: I send Alex a list of the parts the we agreed that he would send with his next shipment. In all there are still 7 parts that I do not have)
13th: Did some calibration tests... appears that the machine is not square. cutting out a rectangle gives me a parallelogram. I measure the frame cross-corner and it is out by 4mm (5/32"). I look at the position of the gantry as it sits on the rails... one side is measurable further ahead of the other. I take my machinist square and lay it across the end of a piece of extruded aluminum... it has not been cut at 90". This would explain why the frame is not square as the extruded aluminum is butt jointed to the steel sides. If this holds true for the extrusions on the gantry... then it will not be sitting perpendicular to the base.. and this explains why my rectangles are parallelograms.
14-17th. Alex suggests that I shim the sides where the gantry arms attach to the linear bearings... i'm willing to give anything a try... but it doesn't make sense to me. I can't get this to work and I decide that the two solutions are: Dis-assemble and re-cut all of the extruded aluminium so that they are 90 degrees.. or enlarge the holes in the gantry arm where the gantry extruded aluminum fastens to it so that I have some room for adjustment. I do the latter and am able to bring things back into tolerance. who knows how long that will last though!
October 2015
Oct 4: Alex is waiting on the arrival of the new X axis screw.. should be here by weeks end.
Oct 14: Where are my parts?... You should have them by Tuesday
Oct 21: still no parts... I resend the list of the parts that he has promised to send me.
Oct 22: Brokers notify me that I have a package from Blurry Customs!!!
Oct 22: There was no invoice sent with the package (again!!!)
Oct 22-30: Alex sends me several invoices... each with missing information regarding the shipment.. finally I get the one I need and the package clears customs.
November 2015
4th: I receive the package. It only includes the spindle... but the invoice that he has sent me includes several of the missing items that he promised to ship. I have now paid brokerage fees, taxes, and duty on non-existent parts.
4th: Enough is enough!!! I phone Alex, he doesn't pick up, I leave him a message saying how upset I am at him and his practices. He needs to call me back to discuss how he is going to rectify this matter. He doesn't return my call.
10th: I email Alex giving him 7 days to bring this transaction to a successful conclusion. The options that I am agreeable to are: get my machine running to my satisfaction, Treat this as a DIY machine and refund half my purchase price, and lastly, refund my entire purchase and I will send his cnc back COD. Failure to agree with my terms means that I will seek satisfaction by other means.
11th: Alex responds that he fully intends to supply the missing parts and honor his contract. He is ready to ship "tomorrow".
18th: 7 days are up and nothing has happened since his last promise.
18th: I email Alex stating that I'm going ahead with my other plans.
18th: Alex immediately emails me stating that the package is due into my location "tomorrow" (ya... right!) He states that "he is drowning here"... hmmmm... let me help you with that!
22nd: Here I sit with a machine that is far from what I ordered, never is or never will be the machine that I asked for.