[eenor]

I ordered an XZero Raptor in July, completed payment in mid-late August, as of now am still waiting for the correct parts to arrive after MANY problems. Missing Z ballscrew, incorrect Y ballscrew (still waiting for replacement), missing screws, no labels on misc screws for assembly, broken bearing block, incomplete assembly instructions, horrible shipping packaging that resulted in dents and dings on the aluminum, dirty parts with scratches and fingerprints everywhere.... replete with an incredulous response to my frustration from XZero owner, George, "I don't understand the negativity." !!! In his defense some of these issues were on TBI's end because he opted to drop ship items to my address to save shipping cost. Problem is, they ship from from CHINA! Something I thought I was avoiding by buying from a reputable company....I have no way of knowing if these are knockoffs or real, but based on the amount of problems I've encountered so far, I have my doubts. The design of the Raptor seems solid, this is my first CNC (was told to buy second machine first, that is, buy the best you can afford and don't cut corners). I paid close to $4000 thinking this was the move and I'd be insulated from the CHINA problems so many refer to in the forums (I considered a similar (but steel frame) 6090 machine with Hi -Win rails/blocks that would have been $2600. I'm hoping George can smooth out this process for others that might consider his machine, as I said, it is well designed and competitively priced for the quality (I hope). But the XZero execution has been dismal and I'm amazed that this process could be so awful. I went with XZero because of comments on the forums saying it was a great machine, that may be, but there is so much more to a business than having a good product. You are taking your chances with XZero, sorry to say. If you go to George for a machine be prepared to have a lot of patience and a lot of back and forth with his sporadic communication. I'm still waiting for a tracking number for my missing Y ballscrew that he said they would rush to me almost 2 weeks ago. I told him I'd be posting my process to the Luthier forums when we began, of course I wanted to post a positive experience. Perhaps a year from now, when all is done and I've worked with the machine, I hope to have better things to say.

[Bx3mE]

I experienced the same...

That said i am nowdays a VERY happy owner of a Raptor. You get what you pay for is commonly said but in this case i must say that the compeditive price might come from cut corners on logistics but not on the machine. It is way more precice than several industrial machines i have worked with lately. George is a good guy! At times i got the feeling his day was based on 28 hrs causing dates to slip but he has the best of intensions. All promises where kept with the exception of some slippage in time.

Knowing what i know today i would order another if i had the need for one. Im confident to say that the product beats the competition when compairing similar priced machines.

I hope you will be satisfied with your choice after you have used it for a while - I know i am

[joeybagadonuts]

Eenor,

A 6090 machine compared to a XZero is like a Yugo compared to a Lexus.
There is a magnitude of difference in quality. A bat can even see that.

JoeyB
Live from downtown Burbank, home of the world famous Kry Baby Kringle.

[eenor]

Yes 6090 is a Hugo comparatively, hence my choice. They are similar in size and perform similar tasks....albeit one much more precisely so. I too, think George is nice, my review would have been much harsher had I not the impression that his design is awesome and that he's probably overworked. But, I'm $4500+ out (incl related purchases), postponing work meant to help pay for the machine, and pretty amazed how patient I've been... what choice do I have? Well, I can post here.... and .....the tracking number for the replacement y ballscrew arrived in email yesterday. I'm glad to hear folks chime in and back him and his product up, I really want to champion anyone doing great work, and I will, once I get it cutting. I'm gonna smash a bottle on it at this point and hope she floats...(probably not) I will continue to send George tips from my newb process as he asked me to alert him to confusing aspects to refine the new assembly instructions. I've made a few suggestions already. I'm hoping that he can get the help he needs to get his product out to customers reliably.

[aarggh]

Eenor,

A 6090 machine compared to a XZero is like a Yugo compared to a Lexus.
There is a magnitude of difference in quality. A bat can even see that.

JoeyB
Live from downtown Burbank, home of the world famous Kry Baby Kringle.

Apart from the XZero having a really polished look and different electronics, how is a 6090 radically different to a Raptor as you claim?

My 6090 has the same linear rails and ballscrews, but with the addition of several hundred more kg's of mass, but I fail to see any practical difference other than the mass and inconsequential cosmetic differences, let alone a magnitude as you claim.

Note I'm not bashing George or his machines, far from it as I greatly admire his adherence to a quality machine, and would dearly love a couple myself, but your comparison in my opinion is just plain wrong and another example of the rampant Chinese bashing that goes on in these forums, if you were comparing a 6040 however, that would be more appropriate.

cheers, Ian

[daniellyall]

the 6090 is a copy of a copy hell what is not a copy my machine is a copy of a techno from a long time ago what 10 other chinese outfits make and other get the same machine made and rebranded but they still all are lumps of **** that be why techno changed the design.

there are a tonne of different 6090 out there only the new version is a good machine only because they are thinking long term you just got the good one Ian you lucked in

[eenor]

Machine is moving now, very solid build, despite the challenges to get it completed, the precision fit of parts and smooth operation are impressive. She's a beaut.