buying a used cnc knee mill

[nc9933]

if this recession keeps going ..do you think I can find a 3 axis cnc conversion knee mill
for 2500 in good shape... ???
what mills would you look for aside from Bridgeports..??

[TOTALLYRC]

if this recession keeps going ..do you think I can find a 3 axis cnc conversion knee mill
for 2500 in good shape... ???
what mills would you look for aside from Bridgeports..??

Are you looking for a mill to convert or a cnc mill that is ready go?

If you are looking to do the conversion yourself there a lots of mills out there that need a new control and are in decent shape.

Mike

[nc9933]

ready to go

[TOTALLYRC]

I haven't been shopping for a used mill in a while but I think that $2500 is doable if you are patient.
It will also depend on where you are located. On the east cost where I am there are more machines for sale than many other parts of the country.

$2500 is at the low end and don't forget that the tooling can cost at least that much again.
I did the tooling by getting what I needed as I needed it so the bite wasn't so bad.


Mike

[ichudov]

Buying any old CNC mill is a crapshoot.

Even if it is working, just one capacitor crapping out in an old obsolete control, may mean thousands of $$$ repair.

That's why I think that buying a good machine with bad control for next to nothing, and retrofitting, is a less risky approach.

$2,500 for a working CNC milling machine in a good shape (not worn, with working control) sounds like somewhat unlikely. This comes from someone who scored a lot of good deals on machinery.

If you look for a long time and attend local auctions, you may get lucky.

i

[gus]

there is no reason to pay more than scrap for a pre boss 8 machine
period

assume it is broken or about to be

they are still the best knee mill iron ever made

interacts are worth a bit more because they are much better machines electronically, and if they have a TNC 151 or later they are still supported.

I still run one, it gives me little trouble.

With the exception of memory space, I have not seen any evidence that any retrofit is better/cheaper/ faster than the original heidenhain

[ichudov]

there is no reason to pay more than scrap for a pre boss 8 machine
period

assume it is broken or about to be

they are still the best knee mill iron ever made

interacts are worth a bit more because they are much better machines electronically, and if they have a TNC 151 or later they are still supported.

I still run one, it gives me little trouble.

With the exception of memory space, I have not seen any evidence that any retrofit is better/cheaper/ faster than the original heidenhain

Gus, there are two bridgeport series II interact 2 machines on ebay. The seller wants $1,200 for each and has been unable to sell them for a few months. I wonder why.

The ebay description to some extent does sound like the seller wants to hide something (all those AS IS and no statement to the actual condition). It is perhaps not the reality, but it is my perception.

As for heidenhain support, the costs are rather outrageous.

i

[gus]

Heidenhain phone support has always been free.

As for outrageous, compared to what? companies that don't exist any more?

when my TNC310 died a few years back, they fed exed me a replacement and ended up charging me less than 2 grand to keep it.

They swapped out the eproms on 2 different machines for me for free

In 18 years of owning 7 different heidenhain controlled machines I have spent maybe 500 bucks more than that on control issues with them

biggest weakness is the lack of an affordable monitor fix

I have bought several on ebay as spares, bringing my total control related costs to maybe 200 bucks a year


Try that with Fanuc

Or any XYZ company retrofit