[KWiK]

Looking for advice or suggestions. 3 years ago I bought a ShopSabre 4896 with a partner. The partner has left and I need to pay him off, so I am attempting to sell the machine. I have come to the conclusion that we way over bought, and the maximum size I need is 4' x 4' or could be smaller. Actually 5' x 5' would be nice, since I do some baltic birch work, but I could always cut it down prior to doing the cnc work. I liked Automatic Tool Change, and I liked having 4th Axix. Neither are critical to my work, but would be nice if I could fit them in my budget. Mostly what I see my needs in the future ar a few signs under 2' x 2' , and inlays on the cutting boards I make also under 2' x 2' . I come from a career in cad so I love 3D stuff, but haven't found much of a market for it. Hens the interest in the 4th Axis. I hope to have a budget of over 10K but I am sure it will be under 14K when all is said and done. I am mechanically inclined, but not electrically, and although I would love to build my own machine, I know it would take longer than I want to take.

So the bottom line is that I am having a hard time wading through the muck to find turn key machines in my price range that are worth looking at. The market seems to have gotten so populated with people out to make a quick buck and Chinese machines that are c;hanging names daily or have little chance of supplying parts in 3 years that I am lost. Any guidance or positive experiences with certain company's is appreciated.

IMO this is the forum that is missing. A forum for people to discuss all brands and compare problem, and the company's willingness to address them.

Thanks

[awerby]

I'd say keep the machine you've got and pay off your ex-partner for his (depreciated) share of it. If you sell it and pay him half the proceeds, you'll get about half the cost of the machine at best, and then you'd be giving away half of that. I don't see you being able to purchase a new machine that's nearly as good without kicking in more money. You can always cut small projects on your big machine, but it doesn't work that well the other way around.

[gfacer]

I agree. You could get a machinery dealer to assess it, they'll be on the high side, but still deprecated. You're talking a lot of work to change to a cheaper machine, both you and your partner would be better off with a payment plan, unless you really want a smaller machine....because 4th axis might be doable with your current machine.

Sent from my ASUS_Z00TD using Tapatalk

[KWiK]

Thanks guys, but If I had another 14K sitting around, I would do that, but I don't and being retired and working on this stuff 50% for hobby I don't see that kind of income to make payments with. We way overbought, and should have bought a smaller machine in the beginning, So the bottom line for me is that I can justify the amount of money I already have into the hobby/business, not as much as it would take to buy the other half of the machine.

[gfacer]

Even on a payment plan? Just seems to be that you are trying to give your partner a better deal than yourself. Now, if he was investing in you, that's one thing, but if he was a partner that left, I would not worry about spreading out payments.

Sent from my ASUS_Z00TD using Tapatalk

[gfacer]

If it's more hobby than business, and you can take not having a machine for a few months, then yes, selling and buying a deal might work fine, but any full business can't usually say that.

Sent from my ASUS_Z00TD using Tapatalk

[gfacer]

Anyways, I'd get a Chinese 4*8machine, 4th axis if you'd like, 2 spindles (or three if you think it would be better for tool changes), set up for mach3 with closed loop steppers....should be in the range. We just bought from Omni.....so far it's been OK all through the process, machine is running now, although ours is an ATC with a syntec control, but outside your budget too.

You should be able to get the same machine customized to 4*4 or 5*5, although with marginal price difference.

Sent from my ASUS_Z00TD using Tapatalk

[KWiK]

Thanks gfacer. Long story about the partnership deal that I don't want to go into. I just want to get out of debt to them and do hobby work.

Do you mind saying which Omni Machine you got and what it ended up costing with shipping and all?

Anyone else have any comments about lower priced machines that they have been happy with?

[gfacer]

Ours was 20k ish USD(lost track of end number as CDN exchange rate), but more importantly, I also got pricing on a 3 spindle 4x8 machine with various motor options, and it was 9k or so USD if I recall, allow 3k maybe for shipping and customs...maybe more if you are inland a bunch. I never got a price for 4th axis as that's of no use to me with plastics but I know they do it.

My mach3 suggestion is mostly because I don't know how good a 4th axis implementation would be with one of the Chinese control options.

Sent from my ASUS_Z00TD using Tapatalk

[gfacer]

Email omni to get a quote, won't take long. Roctech is another brand and (jinan-quick) that have some buying experiences collected here.

Oh, and check salecnc.com for a fairly good idea of machines with actual list prices. Model XJ1325-2T looks about my suggestion, not sure what type of motors they have for the $8500 list.

Sent from my ASUS_Z00TD using Tapatalk