[Apples]

I am thinking of selling my whole plasma table setup. I would just like to find out if someone would be able to give me a ball park figure of what I might be able to sell the whole set up for.

3meters x 2 meters.
Running off Gecko’s
2x 1200oz steppers on X axis
1x 270oz stepper on Y axis
1x 270oz stepper on Z axis
48Volt power supply at 13amps
THC
Comes with the computer with Mach 3 and SheetCam already installed
Comes with a virtually unused Hypertherm Powermax 1000 plasma cutter with machine torch.

The photo’s can be seen at the yahoo ‘plasma cutting’ groups website under photo’s. It is the photo folder called ‘A plasma table in Australia’.

Yeah so I am just trying to work out how might I might be able to sell it all for.

Peter
Australia

[energyforce]

It would probably help to have actual pictures or a www link on here cuz some people (like me) are lazy and dont want to search all over yahoo (ive never been to this yahoo place). Id like to see more pics of your table though.

[midiguy732]

I am thinking of selling my whole plasma table setup. I would just like to find out if someone would be able to give me a ball park figure of what I might be able to sell the whole set up for.

Since you're a nice guy Peter, let me help you out.

Ship the system to New Jersey, USA, care of me, and I'll evaluate the system for one year, then write up a report as to it's value - at no charge to you.

[Salty72]

APPLES

how much work has it done?
is it a homebrew cutter ?
what is it's TOL / Accuarcy
how thick does it cut (guess i could work this one out if I looked up the cutting tourch)
where in gods own country are you ? as my olds are in Mt warren Park and I'm looking for a machine..

PM me or flick us an E-mail [email protected]cc (please note the additional charactors)

Also some photos here would be a must

[Apples]

Okay it is a home brew job.

I live in Qld Toowoomba.

The tolerance/ accuracy is okay in my opinion for a homebuilt rig.
It will never have the accuracy of a laser or an oxygen hi-definition setup. The air plasma's simply just do not have that ability to be that accurate. Anyway they cost big big dollars!

My machine I have found can get actually pretty good tol/accuracy's for a home built machine.

Like if I cut out a thing say 1 foot by 1foot and it will come out within say 1-2mm of it. Probably better that that actually, I don't want to say it can hold 0.5mm if it can't do it.

The plasma cutter is hypertherm powermax 1000 with a machine torch. These plasma cutters are the 'mercedies bens' or 'rolls royce' of plasma cutters. The thickness that I have cut is 10mm, the machine is capable of cutting 25mm steel.

How much work has it done? Well I have cut probably 1 full sheet of 5mm steel that is 3meters long by 1.5 meters wide. And then a couple small bits of 10mm scraps and a few small scraps of 1.5mm.

The accuracy and cutting capabilities of this machine are more than what I expected that I would get from it. I have cut out the uprights for bullbars and made a big bullbar for a landcrusier. I have made a homebuilt ring roller with the plasma. I have made some diff guards with the table. And really this is so good because you can just about make anything with it.

Going back to the accuracy, for what I have made it is plenty accurate. Anyway if you are just making parts that have to be welded anything that has to be highly accurate is going to warp like crap anyway.

I will drop in some picture here to show you some things that I have made and the machine etc.

[Apples]

This part was cut and welded as mounting brackets for a bullbar.

[Apples]

Made a ring roller. cut the arms out of 5mm cut the base out of 10mm. Used it to roll the ring bit of this diff guard that was also cut on the plasma

[Apples]

just some other pics

[carbidecraters]

Might be worth 4K...hard to say with all the budget cnc plasma's out there its hard to sell a home built model

[Apples]

4k would be about 6k in Australia I think.

The plasma cutter here in Australia with the machine torch is $6450 alone.

Peter

[NC Cams]

I"d look for a comparably sized/capable commercial one and price it at roughly 30% to 50%. If you can get your cost out of it, consider yourself lucky.... The parts you made and the learning experience is where you really made out well on the project....

You'll be lucky to get it (your build costs) simply because a commercial one will be percieved to have higher "value". Also, serviceabilty is going to be there, or at least should be, simply because it is a commercially serviced item.

I bought some "home brewed" hardware and when it worked things were cool. When it screwed up, which it did, I learned that it wasn't worth the savings in lost time and flow down damage it created when it stopped working (and damage other stuff in the mean time)...

Although DIY projects can be as good if not better than commercial made (yours is a nice piece), a businessman will usually buy a "name brand" simply because if/when it goes down, he can call a service guy to come and fix the thing....

Getting someone who built a DIY piece to come back and fix it can get real old, real quick and especially so if they eventually (and they do) quit answering the phone....

HINT: A nicer the package (as in painted frames, fully boxed/enclosed controls, etc) would make it much more presentable. No offense but although it surely appears to have worked well, it looks too hobby-like "open-ish", not professionally built and not shop robust enough to interest a person looking for use in a "buy it and run it" in fab shop use environment.

Unless you can find a person with a similar interest in the technology as you, the above hurdles are typically faced by DIY'ers who eventually try to sell their creations.

[DSL PWR]

Your best bet would be to part out the machine.

[Apples]

Yes I can understand all the points that have been mentioned here.

If I do sell it, I am thinking that the possible buyer would be interested in the DIY aspect of things. The biggest part of the whole project has been the experimenting with this method and that method. How will this work etc.

I am just thinking that now the whole machine is together if anything does go BANG! It is just a matter of buying a new part and swapping it over. This might not be an acceptable way of thinking if you want to run the machine 24/7. And you totaly rely on it everyday.

The plasma game is totaly different in the USA compared to Australia. A complete plasma table package here in Oz would set you back $50,000.

Having said that, I have seen old tracing plasma's and oxy tables in the paper that are second hand and had the guts flogged out of them. Now considering that fact that they are only tracing systems not a fully CNC CAD CAM like mine where I can simply draw up a pic and sent it to the table etc.

Surely someone out there must be interested in this newer type/style cutting machine than the old tracing systems. They could probably buy my table for a bit more than an old tracing system. Remembering that everything is new.



But yes you have to remember that this is a homemade machine not a professionally made rig etc. The stuff that I have cut I have been very impressed. Not that I have seen the cut quality from other machines though.

I guess one way of getting an idea of price is to maybe throw an add on eBay and see what happens. Maybe set a reserve price of what I will let it go for, and just simply find out what happens.

What does everyone think of that idea?

Peter
Australia

[Apples]

DSL PWR


"When you say part out the machine".

Are talking about cutting out parts for fabrication shops?


Peter
Australia

[ger21]

No, he means take it apart and sell it piece by piece.

[Apples]

But if you were to break it down, how in the world are you going to get you money back that you spent on it.

I mean if I spend say $100 on some part new then if I sell it second hand I will only get say $50-$80 back.

But surley if it was a complete working machine I should be able to get the cost off all the materials back then maybe a bit more?

Peter
Australia

[ynneb]

I am selling my machine too. My idea of a good price is maximum the parts cost that it cost you. My reasoning for this is that if you sell it for any more than that, you are ensuring to a certain degree that it will not have any problems.

I would hate to sell a machine that worked at my home but did not work after transit. It will come back badly on you if it doesnt. If you sell at cost price, at least the buyer will know that they couldnt have built a machine themselves for any cheaper.

Probably not what you wanted to hear, but its a good insurance policy for you and your buyer.

[Apples]

Probably the most honest/guilt free way of selling somthing. But I know that this is a good thing to buy.

Why are you selling your rig? Did you fix that encoder?

Peter
Australia

[ynneb]

I have a replacement encoder, but havnt installed it. I just dont use the machine because the neigghbours complain too much. I want to now build a smaller one that I can encase for less noise.

You havnt said why you are selling yours?

[NC Cams]

Before you start to part it out, give it a "spit shine" and try to sell the assembly.

First thing to do would be to apply a coat of paint and a boxing tune up for the electronics - make it look more of a "pro" system.

Make sure you have schematics for your system which shows a higher degree of professionalism than a DIY hobby system. Little things like label wiring, button labels, etc do a lot for salesworthiness.

Don't just "plop" it on a message board. Offer demos or schedule appointments. Perhaps list it with used equipment dealers. Send fliers to potential users who have the "old" technology.

I dunno how it is down under but when you want to sell real estate or other "high value" items in the states, you have to "market" them. Simply putting a for sale sign on something and putting it in the want ads of the newspaper doesn't always yield the highest return nor does it reach the target market....