Shop Sabre CNC router?

[dmgdesigns]

Does anyone have any information about this company and/or thier machines?

www.shopsabre.com

Thanks
Mark

[ballendo]

Hello,

Looks like they've made only 2 machines... All pics are of the 7214, and the 3636.

The machines look decently designed, and the components used are also decent quality. The s/w has been used by other commercial machines (cnccrafter is one), and the package price is definitely fair.

I'd look into where the company "is at", and see if the feeling you get matches what you see. I'm betting that they've only built 2 machines. But those two look like they could be a good choice.

Hope this helps,

Ballendo

P.S. Ask 'em some technical questions, and see what they know...
Will they tell you how many they've built? If it's more than two, can you talk to the owners of the previously sold machines?

It's a WHOLE LOT easier to build a machine or two, and post "accessories" using the mfrs. published photos, to make your company look established and competent; than it is to build a sustained cnc machine building operation...

Note that I have NO idea what their reality is, I'm just going by my experience, having had a look at their website...

[jlawren6]

Just wondering if there were any other comments or experience concerning this router.

I came across it as well and it looked interesting. Not too far from the Shopbot in cost/performance, but with what appears to be more solid construction and conventional control. Kinda surprised to see ballscrew drives on a 4'x8' router though. I'm still in the process of deciding if I want to build my own or buy a commercial unit and am learning as much as I can from this great site along the way.

Comment or critiques of the shop sabre design would be appreciated. Thanks.

[dmgdesigns]

I contacted Mark Bombardo by phone and spoke for quite a while. I had decided to purchase the 48 X 48 machine. I ask him to email me a quote for the machine and options I wanted AND a couple of references. I explained I just wanted to talk to someone who was using the machine. That was 3/2/2004. I never heard from him. I called again about 3 weeks later and he said he would send the information I wanted. Well I have not received an email yet.

They do look like well build machines and to here Mark talk about them I would assume they are. I just can not let go of that much money with out checking it out first.

I gave up and decided to build. I bought big servos, ball screws, and rails and bearings. I am now in the process of changing the www.Data-Cut.com plans to fit the low cost rails and screws. May be I can get some pics on CNCZone before to long.

Give Mark a call and see what you think. Good luck!

[jlawren6]

Thanks for the info. That does not sound real promising. I might give him a call to see if anything has changed. I kinda doubt it though.

I'll probably end up going to build route as well. Free time is so rare these days though that I'd really rather spend it learning CAM and and all that goes with cutting (feed rates, bit types, etc) rather than building then having to learn that anyway. Building would have it's advantages though.

I realize this is a DIY site, but I wish there was more info/comments/reviews of some of the low-cost commercial routers. Ones like the Shop Sabre, Shopbot, BMR, Practical CNC, and some of the Ebay routers (Fireup2k, etc.). Usually the only info you find on these are through their own websites. Not exactly the most independent reviews. It also be nice to have some detailed info on their hardware.

Surely some folks here could shed some light.... In the meantime, I'll keep digging and learning.

Thanks again.

[RandMan]

I had a similar experience when I was checking out ShopSabre. I could not get a solid impression that they were real. Mark never supplied a single reference for me to speak with and I had to hound him to be a customer. Their spindle prices were very expensive and their limit switch option was totally rediculous. When I looked at the total package they were about 5% under a Techno which offered a bit more performance so I went with that. At least they are real and I can get parts if I need them.

[GeorgeRudd]

Has anyone on this list purchased a ShopSabre?

I live in Minnneapolis (about 30 minutes from their shop) and I went to see a demo a few weeks ago. They had four machines in production while I was there and they seemed to be real company. I did not ask how many units they have sold.

I also had a hard time getting a reference via email but I finally talked to a guy that has one. He seemed to be pretty happy with his purchase but he had not used it a whole lot yet.

Their machines seemed well built and pretty heavy duty to me (with my limited exposure to these type of machines). In my opinion they seem to be a class above the ShopBot's that I have seen. I am considering buying a ShopSabre but I would really like to hear some feedback from someone more knowledgeable than myself, someone that can look at their specifications (weight, contstruction method, etc.) and give some feedback on what they think.

[RandMan]

There's a used Thermwood on ebay (a dealer listing) for $13,500. 5x10' two 12HP spindles plus vacuum. A whole lot of router for the price. There's a used Techno on there too but they want too much for it IMO.

Suggest you get a quote from Shopsabre to figure out what the full price is. Being close to them would be a real plus. The cost of my Techno was almost the same as Shopsabre but I got an aluminum t-slot table with that versus their MDF table. Techno's support has been great the couple of times I needed something. I've got a 20+ page machine maintenance manual, a re-indicate manual, plus the machine and s/w manuals. Their slides have rubber dust/chip guards so I don't have to clean/lube every few hours of messy wood machining. See if you can get stuff like this from Shopsabre if you go that way. See if you can talk them into delivering and setting it up square for free since you are local. That would be worth something and cheap for them.

[GeorgeRudd]

ShopSabre does offer an optional alluminum slot table but I am not sure what the up charge is for it, or what the advantage of having it would be. Do you use the slot table for clamping stuff down?

I also noticed that there is a lot of pretty heavy duty steel framing under the MDF waffle top that you don't see in the ShopSabre photos. How important is the amount of steal used in the legs? It seems like the ShopSabre has fairly heavy duty legs on the corners of their table but they do not have extra support legs in the center like I see on some of the more expensive machines.

[RandMan]

My aluminum table is really nice because it doesn't change dimensionally with temperature and humidity. It is within a couple of thou in height max from anywhere on the table. I clamp fixtures made of MDF, aluminum or phenolic that hold my parts to the t-slot table. My small 2'x3' MDF fixtures warp and move every time I go to use them so I need to face them flat which is a pain. I would imagine a table top made of MDF would need to be faced flat if you need consistent depths but it's probably not as important for cutting through.

Heavy framing is a good thing if it makes the table more rigid. The last thing you want is the machine becoming slightly out of square when you make a heavy cut. My machine has enough torque to snap off a 1/4" bit in an instant and want more.

[tltaylor]

I've talked to Mark a lot in the last few weeks. Seemed to be very eager to tell me anything I wanted to know about his machine. He called me back within half a day with a reference that he had already called to make sure it was alright that I contact. Out of all the companies that I have spoken to on the phone, Mark was the most informative and responsible. He has called me twice since we first talked. I have not bought one or gone to see the reference machine so take what i say with a grian of salt.

Trent

[PaulT]

Hi All,

I have owned a Shopsabre 4896 for about 15 months now and I couldn't be happier with it. It's a rugged, well built machine. The ONLY problem I've had with it was a set screw coming loose on the Y axis Love-Joy coupling. It took me a minute to figure out why my Y screw quit turning, but it was a quick fix.

This is my first CNC router and now that I have a little experience with it, I wish I would have gotten at least a 5 HP spindle instead of opting for the 3 1/14 HP PC router. I can still do everything that a bigger spindle could do, I just can't do it as fast as I'd like to sometimes.

The RAMS software and the WinCNC software are a good combination and real easy to learn. I use CorelDraw for making drawings because I already had that and knew how to use it.

Shopsabre is a relatively new company and they've had some growing pains but I think they have their act together now. They offer a great machine at a good price.

If anyone has any questions I can help with, ask away.

Paul