milltronics partner II

[jmanriss]

I am not a machinist in any sense of the word so bear with me here. I recently came across a 1990 milltronics partner II cnc mill it has controls and appears to be in good shape. I do not know if it works as it is in storage and cannot hook it up to power as well as the fact that I wouldnt know where to start as far as operating it. I was just curious as to how much someone would buy it for in the given condition I can email pictures upon request. please no really low ballers I am wanting a pretty honest value of this machine I may not be a machinist but I am no fool either lol! Thanks in advance for any input!!

[jmanriss]

Come on guys it's gotta be worth something. I'm not saying top dollar but a price where someone in your field of work would feel like they got a good deal on a machine

[moldcore]

Why not post a few pictures here or a link to some. It’s going to be hard to guess a price without knowing more about the machine, such as size, controller, etc. Partner II doesn’t tell us much. Milltronics early machines were pretty crude but the iron may be still good. If the controller and drives are original, it may all have to be updated.

[jmanriss]

Heres some pics of the machine I was asking about these are the only ones I currently have of it but I think they will cover most of the bases.

[jmanriss]

heres some pics

[moldcore]

Looks like the controller is a Centurion V, can you confirm this? If it is, that means it has been updated at some time and it may be worth more than if it had a Centurion IV, they were pretty bad but still usable. Also it looks like it may be able to do 3D albeit slowly, that’s a plus. It’s still a knee mill, so it’s not as valuable as a bed mill and potentially could have more wear problems. Knee mills just don’t hold up like a bed mill. Without knowing if it runs or its history, it’s a crap shoot. If it doesn’t run, $500, if it runs and has little hours, it could be worth up to $5K to someone looking for a cnc mill to put in a small space. Probably not much help.

[jmanriss]

how would I go about confirming what controls are on this machine?? all I know is that the front of the control panel area says milltronics... in the top right corner is there another way to tell what I have here?? if so Id love to know as I can look at the machine tomorrow to confirm or deny

[machineman1709]

Originally Posted by jmanriss how would I go about confirming what controls are on this machine?? all I know is that the front of the control panel area says milltronics... in the top right corner is there another way to tell what I have here?? if so Id love to know as I can look at the machine tomorrow to confirm or deny

looking at the pictures even if the controller is not the original it is still on the older side and would need an update. with not being able to power it up and see if it works or what works or not I would put it in a range of worth at about 500 to 700 bucks. hope this is some help but without power its a crap shoot.

[trevj1]

Cent V control is PC based. Should be a black case, inside the control electrical box on the back of the machine.

You want to have a look (maybe a picture, too) at the serial number and other info on the plate on the control box. It is not the same as the serial number plate shown. IIRC the serial plate ends up on the bottom side of the black case as installed.

Wouldn't hurt to pull the cover off the case and snap a picture in there, too. Makes it easier to see if, for instance, a hard drive was installed, or if the box has been gutted and is empty... Should be small hex key screws holding that cover on.

A front-on view of the control panel would be good, but it looks like a Cent V to me too.

Check also for any books or diskettes that may be stashed within. If the parameters disk is available, that is one less thing to have to track down.

Cheers
Trev

[ZZZZ]

Call Milltronics Service Dept with the machine serial number (it appears to be W1707)
They can tell you about the control.

I would be VERY apprehensive about buying a machine this old without seeing it boot-up and run. Unless you are quite experienced with electronic controls and axis drive systems, and even if you are, you could spend a lot of money trying to make this work.

I'd advise you to try to find something newer that you can actually see run.