How many are out there?

[zephyr9900]

Originally Posted by justgary Sorry to excite the beehive.

Oh yeah, this bee is really stirred up. (Dramatic action photo attached.)

Originally Posted by justgary I got my hunk of aluminum in today, so I'll start drawing my high-speed spindle adapter.

A thing I need to change on my Proxxon adapter is to lower the Proxxon relative to the primary spindle. There is so little projection of the tools below the bracket, that I have had the primary spindle nose interfere with clamps when I was using the Proxxon.

It probably isn't a factor with a full-size router given the non-tiny size of the bits you'll probably be using, but might be something for you to watch out for, Just Gary.

I will redo my bracket so that the bottom of the Proxxon collet is even with the bottom of the primary spindle.

Randy

[sharpshooter90]

Originally Posted by TT350 Any one have any idea how many have been sold?

Well your simple question certainly stirred up a hornet's nest. If you really want to know and Tormach won't say you can go to
www.importgenius.com
But it ain't free.

[justgary]

Randy -

I have had the same clearance issues with the Proxxon, which is just another reason I'm switching to the router for my HSS.

You may recall the Dremel collet holder from an earlier post, which combined with the fairly deep throw of the router will provide a lot of clearance even for very small cutters.

I'm thinking about cannibalizing the rack-and-pinion-driven height adjuster from the router frame and putting it on the adapter bar (along with the cam-lock clamp from the router frame). My thought is that it would allow me to move the router up or down to provide whatever clearance I need, plus get me at or near the Z touch-off point very quickly. Do you see any reason I shouldn't use either of those?

Regards,

- Just Gary

[zephyr9900]

Originally Posted by sharpshooter90 But it ain't free.

sharpshooter90, noone is going to go to a pay-per-view website for a matter of idle curiosity. So, with respect, give it a rest please.

I don't think your paid-for numbers would be any good in the first place.

You originally said that there were maybe 132 units sold in all.

Originally Posted by sharpshooter90 Originally Posted by TT350 Looks like Bluefin has # 1320, do you guys think that there’s 1320 + machines out there? As best as I can see the number is about 10% of the serial #1320.

You later tried to imply that that was a per-year number

Originally Posted by sharpshooter90 Originally Posted by justgary My estimate is now one unit per business day, or about 260 units for 2008. That's about double my estimate,

but even twisting your original number that way you were off by a factor of two! Some market research! I hope you enjoyed spending your money.

Randy

[zephyr9900]

Originally Posted by justgary Do you see any reason I shouldn't use either of those?

Not at all, Just Gary. I forgot about your adapter (you apparently aren't the only one without a photographic memory...) but that should do great. I've been chucking the bits up as short as I could to minimize the leverage on the nose bearing (nose bearing? it's the only bearing--the rear of the spindle is only constrained by slotting into the motor shaft) but your router doubtlessly has manly bearings that can take the overhung load of an .020" cherrying bit hanging "way out there".

I think your retractable mount idea is great. I was just thinking last night about making a retractable mount for the Proxxon. The only snag there is that I want to still be able to do combination runs with the primary and Proxxon spindles, for which I need dead-on registration between the two spindles.

Randy

[justgary]

Randy -

In order to keep from completely hijacking this exciting thread, I'm posting my reply to you in the "Collet-held collet holder" thread.

Not that this thread isn't completely ready for for hijacking. Some folks are starting to get a bit testy, and I don't want to have to open my vent as well.

I'll see you over at the other thread.

Regards,

- Just Gary

[sharpshooter90]

Originally Posted by zephyr9900 sharpshooter90, noone is going to go to a pay-per-view website for a matter of idle curiosity. Some market research! I hope you enjoyed spending your money. Randy

Actually I didn't and wouldn't spend any money on this. I have access to that site through a friend. It matters not to me if there are 5 or 500 machines out there, I was only responding to the question from the original poster and offerring him some sources to use. I don't think most people care one way or the other , with the exception of a few who seem somehow uneasy if the perceived size of the support group is reduced.