[PolymathSC]

Hello all,
I'm new to this forum, this is my first post, I run a small cnc routing business/job shop. We do a little bit of everything but a good bit of production routing, 1000's of pieces at a time. I'm looking to add another machine to add some capacity but don't want to go for a brand new machine right now for a variety of reasons. I'm looking at used machines in the $30-$50k USD range. I am looking for some feedback from anyone who might have experience operating Weeke machines in the US. Machines in this range are going to be probably 6-10 years old. I'm wondering how hard it is to service them in house and or what others experience with factory service has been. I've been warned that some of the European companies see service as a profit center and don't have much incentive to provide good tech support to those trying to do in house repairs. It's not just that I don't want to pay their service prices but for example my current machine manufacturer is 3-4 weeks to get a service call and they just quoted me $8600 (plus travel time and lodging) to have a tech on site for 3.5 days. That's $286/hour. And I'm not really confident in the tech's ability. Hence my desire to be able to service my own machines.
Thanks in advance for any insights.
Jonathan

[Hugo_Hans]

HI,
My personal opinion is that if you're buying an old machine, you should be able to fix it yourself.
Companies that sell new machines are not very keen on such precarious ventures, because people are scarce and they will deal with servicing newer machines first.
Also, the availability of components for older machines can be problematic.

Pavel