[rzugnoni]

Hi all,

I'm not sure where to ask this question so I thought that I would start here. I am thinking of buying a used Prototrak bed mill. They look like good machines for prototype work. The problem that I am having is trying to find others that have a similar machine. I am trying to get a rough idea on the popularity of these machines and if there are any support groups out there specifically related to these machines. I've even called Southwest Industries (they sell these) and can't seem to get any answers.

I understand that this sounds something like a "fishing" effort on my part but it really isn't. I don't want to spend the money if it might be wasted.

Any help would be greatly appreciated,

Thanks,

Randy

[bkobernus]

Randy,
Since no one else has replied, I will.

Prototrak bed mills, or even just a Prototrak mills should be in every shop. They are, and have been, very popular for the past 30 years. The bed mills are unique in the fact that you have a nice robust machine, that is great manually, but you can use as a cnc also. Programming it is very basic. Point to point. But you can also get an entry level off line programming system, and download programs into the machine to do some quite complex machining. The learning curve is very short, i.e. minutes. not months or days.
As far as forums.... They are so simple, not sure if one is necessary. But I'm sure the is a section here on cnczone, somewhere.

If you think the price is right, Get it. You won't regret it.

my .02,

Bill K