Is this CNC worth purchasing and rehabbing?

[dman27]

Gentleman selling an old CNC router.

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. What would be a good price to offer for this machine?

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.

[ger21]

Looks like a really old Shopbot?? I think you'd be better off building a Mechmate than fixing that up. For probably about the same price you'd end up with a much better machine.

www.mechmate.com

[dman27]

Originally Posted by ger21 Looks like a really old Shopbot?? I think you'd be better off building a Mechmate than fixing that up. For probably about the same price you'd end up with a much better machine. www.mechmate.com

You're right. he did say it was a shopbot. He says he will get it up and running and completely cleaned up. He wants about $3000 for it.

I looked at the mechmate and of course that's my dream CNC, but don't have time or skill to build it. I need something up and running that I can either just assemble the complete kit or have it ready to go.

He will do all the rehabbing for that price. I don't think I can put together a Mechmate for that price.

Do you know anything about the motors on this or where I can find old info on this CNC?

Thanks for the reply.