Should I buy this OLD shopbot CNC? Need help Identifying it.

[dman27]

I met a gentleman that is doing some production for me on his ShopBot PRS Alpha CNC for my small cabinet shop. We mentioned to him some time ago we were thinking of purchasing a starter CNC to train on and would probably get something cheap to start.

He said he had an old (original) Shopbot that would be more than adequate to start on. it says it is a pre-2000 machine. He does Rep work for ShopBot and actually helped them design parts of one of their machines. Very knowledgeable and Nice gentleman, but wanted to get the opinion of the CNCzone members.

About the machine:
It is a 4 x8 rack and pinion system, with ballscrews on all axis.
It already has the vacum table built in, he has the 3 phase blower with it, but that's too much for our use.
He is replacing the controllers with Gecko's and updating the electronics.
He says he will have it fully functional for me to check out in about two weeks.

Excuse the bad pictures, I took them with my Iphone.

Questions:

1. Anyone familiar with this CNC?

2. Is it worth $2500-$3000

3. Should I update the motors, or are the sufficient to cut 3/4 plywood at slower speeds?

4. Any questions or suggestions to him before I get him started on the rehab?


Thanks for any help on this.

[the4thseal]

forgive me for saying so but i thought shopbots are have always been blue..might it be a clone of some kind?i think it will depend on what you see when you see it run. make sure you bring indicators to check accuracy.

[dman27]

Originally Posted by the4thseal forgive me for saying so but i thought shopbots are have always been blue..might it be a clone of some kind?i think it will depend on what you see when you see it run. make sure you bring indicators to check accuracy.

He said it was a pre-2000 version, maybe their first. I'm intrigued because of the rack and pinion,ballscrews and vacuum setup.

[Switcher]

That might not be a bad deal?

What cnc control is it running (don't they run a proprietary control)?
Is everything included (PC,etc...)?

Have him cut 1 or 2 of your own small projects on the machine, before you write the check, see what the cuts look like.

If it was me I would ask him to help you get the machine setup, at your shop. The reason is, that table is kinda big, If that thing gets bumped around during the move to your shop, it will be all out of whack.

[cabnet636]

that is called the unistrut shopbot and is the original make of the machine, if it cut all these years it will cut some more, sloew but some more! what type of vac pump was he using? that may be where the money is. you can have some wear on the rails and basically all of the parts are still available. i would go to shopbots forum for more info. i would not expect much in the way of 3d but for 2d work it will probably do the trick, it will be an excellent educational machine that may just earn enough to buy a newer one!!

http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/discus.cgi

jim

[dman27]

Originally Posted by Switcher That might not be a bad deal? What cnc control is it running (don't they run a proprietary control)? Is everything included (PC,etc...)? Have him cut 1 or 2 of your own small projects on the machine, before you write the check, see what the cuts look like. If it was me I would ask him to help you get the machine setup, at your shop. The reason is, that table is kinda big, If that thing gets bumped around during the move to your shop, it will be all out of whack.

Yes, I think shopbot is proprietary. He is replacing the controller to a Gecko controller. Yes, everything is included.

Right now it is not running, so he is only replacing all parts if I'm purchasing it from him and don't want to promise that until I find out more info.

He did agree to set it up in the shop for me and get it all running.


Thanks for your reply.

[dman27]

Originally Posted by cabnet636 that is called the unistrut shopbot and is the original make of the machine, if it cut all these years it will cut some more, sloew but some more! what type of vac pump was he using? that may be where the money is. you can have some wear on the rails and basically all of the parts are still available. i would go to shopbots forum for more info. i would not expect much in the way of 3d but for 2d work it will probably do the trick, it will be an excellent educational machine that may just earn enough to buy a newer one!! http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/discus.cgi jim

Thanks for the info. after your post and much research it looks like it's the pr96 original model. He says it was a 5 or 10hp regenerative blower (3 phase). I only have 240 in my shop so don't want to pay for the extra electronics to convert it.

If I could see it run before putting money in it, then maybe I would purchase it. It sounds like it won't be accurate enough and too much work to keep it aligned for my limited time.

Thanks for the reply.

[ger21]

Keep in mind that if you learn on a Shopbot, and then buy something else (other than Shopbot), you'll need to relearn a lot, as Shopbot doesn't run standard G-code. If you're switching to Geckos, a switch to Mach3 should be as easy as a breakout board.

[Switcher]

Originally Posted by dman27 Yes, I think shopbot is proprietary. He is replacing the controller to a Gecko controller. Yes, everything is included. Right now it is not running, so he is only replacing all parts if I'm purchasing it from him and don't want to promise that until I find out more info. He did agree to set it up in the shop for me and get it all running. Thanks for your reply.

Just to clarify, Gecko is only a drive, that's not the same thing as a cnc control.

What ger21 pointed out is kinda what I was thinking, you might as well upgrade that Cnc-Control (software) to Mach3, so you can run standard g-code, If you don't you will be limited to only shopbot software, that isn't a good thing at all! The more options you have to run any type of PC software, the cheaper it gets in cost (more software vendors to pick from, the wider the selection as far as money goes).

That's how proprietary software makes money, they force you to buy only their software If you want to move up to better things (not good for the wallet).

I think you can get Mach3 (cnc-control), & a breakout-board for around $400.

[dman27]

Ok, I'm not sure about the controller then. He did mention something about the shopbot training, so he may be leaving it as is. I talked to him today and declined to purchase the unit.