To anyone who's bought a floor model mill

[tooManyHobbies]

I'm considering buying the X2 floor demo from a HF store. Haven't seen it yet, but if it looks good and they cut the price enough I think I'd go for it.

Has anyone done this? (Other than ddexd who got one for $200!) If so, what kind of discount did they give you? What are the pluses and minuses of this?

Thanks.

tom

[kanton]

I got an X2 demo about 6 years ago. I got ~$200 off. Advantage - no cleaning. Disadvantages - no box or manual but the pdf manual was easily downloaded.

I would get them to turn it on and allow you to try the speeds, crank the dials etc. to check its condition. Also, download the manual to get the parts list to see how much they have lost in the store.

[cadmonkey]

Check it thoroughly. I wouldn't touch the one on the shelf here with a 10ft pole (unless that 10 foot pole had a marker at the end that let me mark it down to $100...). It's been pretty beaten up by people playing with it, the acme nut felt like it was just short of being stripped.

Inspect carefully and remember you get what you pay for.

my .02 YMMV

[JRouche]

Hmm, just as a caution.. I have seen guys who were not even interested in the floor machines do their best to force a crank that was locked or crashed already. Folks love to just crank the hand wheel cause its there. And if for some reason its not moving just apply more pressure.. Dunno if its worth a 10% or whatever discount.. JRouche

[tooManyHobbies]

Thanks for the feedback. I'll be cautious if I go this route.

tom

[blades]

No problems with mine at all, other than missing the tool kit. Got it for 20% off. There was no obvious damage to it, everything worked smooth on it in the store so I took it home. Did require good cleaning though, as I'm sure any HF machine would. I took it completely apart to clean & deburr the sharp edges on the castings. I'm extremely happy with it, for the price.

O.T. I also picked up their 21 gallon air compressor during their recent sidewalk sale for $100, which was half price. No box or manual, but it looks & works just fine.

[graflex]

LIKE THE OLD HORSE TRADER SAYS. "CHECK ITS TEETH BEFORE YOU PART WITH THE CASH"

[Smitty911]

If your going to CNC it you will be replacing all of the drive stuff anyway. So as long as it turns on, fine, but get it cheap. They were only going to offer me 10% off the store model. No cranks, No tools, No Sale.

Smitty

[blades]

Originally Posted by Smitty911 If your going to CNC it you will be replacing all of the drive stuff anyway. So as long as it turns on, fine, but get it cheap. They were only going to offer me 10% off the store model. No cranks, No tools, No Sale. Smitty

I can sort of understand the "no tools", but no cranks?!? And only 10% off?!?
Sounds like the store manager isn't minding the store. Sure don't blame you on the "no sale".

[tooManyHobbies]

Well I took the safe route and placed the order for a new X2 today. Too many little factors added up to going this way instead of the floor demo.

I used a 15% off coupon, which they took off of the sale price ($489) instead of the full price. Also used a $100 gift card I got from work for the holidays, so it came out pretty good.

In a couple of months, after I get paid for this latest consulting job, I'll purchase a cncfusion CNC conversion, MeshCAM, Mach3, and the new "cheap" drives from Gecko and do this obsession right!

Thanks for the help!

tom