Newbie- Where should I look for my machine?

[ETChipotle]

I've been bitten by the CNC bug, and have finally gotten around to reading enough here and there that it's starting to make sense.

Stories of people getting killer deals on CNC machines that can then be retrofitted just feeds the fever. So I've been looking into things, and decided that rather than retrofit my benchtop machine, I'd be better off with a Bridgeport that was originally equipped as CNC, but begging for a retrofit.

As I look at ebay and craigslist, I don't see anything out there that's anywhere near the kind of deal I'm hoping for. But I haven't given it time.

It appears that in my town (Minneapolis) there are a number of machines for sale, but they are all either originally manual, or currently expensive.

Places like Michigan and cities from Chicago to Pittsburg seem to have a lot more machines, but still mostly not the BOSS machines or others that I'm thinking about. I'm not looking in California much because I'm concerned about the transport cost for going that far.

I'm not sure how practical it is for me to buy from a town that's 400 to 1000 miles away. I think it would just be a blast, but might be too expensive. I haven't thought that one through yet.

Are ebay and craigslist just too easy? Do I need to poll shop owners to see if I can shake a machine loose that the owners would rather have gone?

Do you think over time I can expect to see some of these machines showing up as affordable on ebay and craigslist, or do I need to be more creative? I have no family members or friends with these machines, so I don't think anyone is going to give me one (unless I bang on his shop door).

[TarHeelTom]

I bought a CNC Bp last spring, and have had it running, after retrofit, but don't have it in "production" yet, mostly because other things, like insulating the garage, have gotten in the way.

I found mine on craigslist. You need to check perhaps 10 to 20 different editions of craigslist daily. Actually, a couple of my cousins told me that if you're serious about buying something like this, you need to check 3 times per day.

First, line up the cash, so you can blast off and look, then make a deposit as soon as you find the right one. You can usually come back the next weekend or so and pick it up.

I'd look up to perhaps 1000 miles away. If you can find one in the Milwaukee or Detroit area for a good price, go get it. I had to go about 130 miles, and it cost me about $150 or so, including paying the truck driver and buying his gas.

Beg borrow or steal a heavy duty, dual axle, car carrying trailer and a pickup. My Bp weighs about 3000 lbs, so my mechanic has a trailer he pulls behind his pickup which will handle a heavy car with ease. Pick up at least four of the heavy duty tie down straps. They are generally rated somewhere around 7000 lb or so. A two ton or larger flat bed truck would also work well. A box truck would work, but you'd have to do some mods to be able to strap the mill down.

You also need to line up a fork lift to unload it once you get it home. We unloaded it from the trailer, turned it around, then tied it to the tip of the forks and stood it almost on its nose to get it under the top of the garage door. Once it's inside, you can use a timber and the fork lift to push it back from the door. Once it's refitted, it "easy" to move it a short distance with a couple of crowbars. For a longer distance, cut several pieces of iron pipe and use them to roll it around as needed.

If the computer is not working when you go to look at one, it's easy to remove each of the belt access panels and turn the belt by hand, and check for backlash. You should not be able to feel ANY backlash when checking by hand.

Don't worry about the old computer electronics. You're going to throw them away immediately.

Here's my mill on the way home: Tom Wade -- Machinist Section -- New CNC Mill

Tom

[TOTALLYRC]

I picked my BTC-1 up here on the CNCZONE and i was able to buy a parts machine from Classifieds Search - Claz.org


I highly recommend one of the search engines that allow a mileage input so you can tell it how far away from home to look.

I got the parts machine for $500. He didn't care if I took on bolt or the whole machine it was $500. He scrapped the rest. The worts part is that it would have run with a little TLC or would have made a great retro fit canadate but I just couldn't get the whole thing home.
Of course here in the Northeast Machines are a lot more common.

Happy hunting.

Mike