Congratulations Leo. If you know of other US users then i dont see the issue of risk on your part. At the price its an excellent deal. Amazing what the US$ buys you. In reality $7200 is not real money in this business yet thats a real machine and you have more than enough skill and years in the field to know how to make it pay. No risk to you really.
I have a question on a unit this size are the motors going to be 3 phase 220v if so whats your plan for power at a home shop or are you taking a leap into a commercial unit for this unit.
Can you give us some idea of its accuracy, I am just curious to be able to compare how precise it can be relative to anything else we know of.
This is the way to go in my view when you put a price on your time as opposed to building one. You can be up and running in no time making money in comparison to building it oneself. Of course if thats also fun suppose it depends what one wants.
So from a software point of view what is the Operating System of this machine going to be? I guess you will be able to use all your existing software to run this as the driver is Mach3 correct?
Actually there are 1-2 Canadians in the local owners. How can I go wrong?
It is wired 220v single phase. I already have that in the shop wired with 10GA to a 30 amp breaker.
The spindle is 220v - not sure of the amps -- 3.2 Kw. I am sure I can drive that.
The drive motors are likely 24 to 48 volts, Stepper motors. They are NEMA-34 at 1200 oz-in. I know that sounds a little greek - but - they are very powerful.
I have a BS degree in Machine Design. I can very well design and build, even to the point to machine all the parts - but - that is just not where I want to be. I have a good enough background to KNOW precisely what I am looking at and what will satisfy my "desires". This is it. It would take me at least a full year to build one, and still it would not come to the Chinese standards on this machine. I cannot make a welded steel base. I still would need to purchase the rotary axis, yet have never seen one like the one I will be getting. Though I have not yet touched it - I know it. Melissa Jones from Nice Carvings, a world renown sign artist/maker traded in a ShopBot for this same brand. She said it if FAR superior to the ShopBot. That means a LOT to me as she is a commercial heavy duty every day user.
Operating system is Mach3 --- VERY VERY VERY common operating software. That is what I am using now on my smaller machine that is now for sale.
On the precision - routers are not really precise anyway. You gotta remember, to me Precision in the the millionths of an inch world. Also Precision is measured in a number of ways. There is generally reliability and repeatability. I expect to be .001" or less on both accounts. I will be measuring it after it is setup. One of the reasons I like this machine is the products that go into the build. The HiWIN rails will ADD a great deal to the precision of the machine.
As to my CAD/CAM software and compatibility - nothing changes. Everything is the same. All files I have now will work without any modifications at all. I have 100% confidence in that.
As to price comparison - the brand name machines are 3-5 times more money. If I needed to sell my machine I could turn a profit. If I needed to sell a brand name machine, I would take a small loss.
As to price to build. At the full cost with machine operating on my shop floor - I could not build it for the same price.
YES - this IS an "investment" to me - not just a hobby toy. Actually it will serve both purposes.
Is this for everyone - NOOOO
In the sign making world - this is a SMALL machine.
I set out years ago to make my hobby - self sustaining. Well it can take me and Diane to a dinner and movies night from time to time - oh, and pay for Dianes Scrapbooking hobby too. Errr - part of my hobby IS doing business - I just love selling stuff and making stuff for sale.
Rob - you are a well accomplished businessman and I relish your input.