Maybe I can hire some Somali pirates to hijack the ship and bring it to the west coast!!
I hope that gent keeps making videos too. That was the very best I have seen of an AutoMate unit. Most are just so bad you can't stand to watch. Looks like they are running the machine during a really bad earthquake!!! We plan on staying active here. We are considering as well... CONSIDERING.... being the key word live streaming this machine working. We have bumped into a few problems so far while researching this but nothing as yet that has turned us off. I think these will be great units.
I called the captain of the boat bringing your lathe.... He said they are taking a couple of weeks off on the way to go fishing. Sorry, just had to! Dan.
Maybe I can hire some Somali pirates to hijack the ship and bring it to the west coast!!
Here's a video of the Gx-1413 (aka FL300)
Mmmm. Live tooling.
Don't be shocked. If you really want to know which machine is what machine that might be this machine .... yeah, that's crazy .... but so is their numbering system. CALL THEM! I think the site is hopeless. When I was in their place last week, they had several machines in stock. Including mine, two were sold. I think these are pretty good folks & machines...but they just are not NOT organized and they have "0" idea how bad they are hurting themselves with all this number flip flopping and inacurate information on their machines. As for the live tooling, it is a pure add on and IF you are leaning that way, make sure you get the 808D Advanced controller. I don't know if they keep live tooling in stock. Hope this helps. Dan
It was supppsed to be 9 weeks, 10 weeks ago. I emailed Kade but haven't heard anything yet.
No doubt Ican's lathe is on the same slow boat.
Tim
Tormach 1100-3 mill, Grizzly G0709 lathe, PM935 mill, SolidWorks, HSMWorks.
No, I have mine. That's why I have been silent... WORKING!!! The unit is in place and I have been leveling, wiring, you name it and I have done it this past week. We got the machine Tuesday 11/8 and this is literally the first time I have slowed down since...and this slowdown won't last long. More later if I survive.
brianbonedoc.... Kade is in China. I was told he will be back to work around the 21st.
Dan thx! Now how about some videos of yours running!!
Man! I wish I could just go punch the run button!!!! I am more than ready. It might be running Tuesday / Wednesday. Looking at it daily and it not being ready to play with is torture. I will have some images / videos when it is perking along. I have images of it from the time the truck arrived to it being parked... but to most, those won't be very interesting. I hope you get yours soon. If anyone at Detroit knows when your machine will arrive, my guess is it would be Kerry. You could come and practice your install by helping!!!
Dan - if I were closer I'd be there in a heartbeat. I will check with Kerry. Hope you get up and going soon and smoothly!
Ha! I somehow believe ya!! It hasn't been all that bad really. Getting the rascal off the truck and into the shop took almost a day as my shop is just crowded. I am installing the power converter as well so that had to have mounts built, conduit run, not to mention previous to the machine even arriving, I had to re-arrange 90% of the shop so it would have a place to live. I just need to add shop space. It will be a must before I can have another machine...or even a screwdriver!! I hope your unit gets here soon. I am anxious to see yours too. Dan
Hey Dan - hows the setup of the lathe coming?
How about some pics or videos?
Brian
Brian, I have good news bad news, good news AND... then the BEST news we all can have.
Good... I finished wiring & setting the machine yesterday.
Bad..... After all the work and $$ I put power to the machine, the hydraulic pump came on, cooling fans started, ....but it would not come on. Push the start button... the screen would flash and that was it. The schematics that came with the machine did not match my SL6. I called the Automate folks about 9 AM. . I was put with a gent named Patrick. Off and on all day we spoke. I had to do testing on my end to help. Patrick stayed at work an hour or so late while we did more troubleshooting on the controls. When we finished I still don't think he was sure what was wrong but we did know how to make the machine work. I wouldn't have used it that way but it was good to see it come to life. . There is a lot of wiring in these beast and I think we had touched every inch of every wire.
GOOD.... My phone rang about 9:30 AM this morning. It was Patrick telling me that they had sent Fed X, a relay for me to replace. It arrived at 10:30 this morning and the lathe was running perfect at 10:45 AM.
No one likes a DOA machine. It just shouldn't happen. Kinda sticks you between mad and disappointed. You have dropped a good chunk of change and worked your tail off for a week.... for nothing. But, things happen. No one will ever know what made the relay go poof!
BEST..... The folks at Automate could not have done more! They just simply did everything possible and made a bad thing good as quick as anyone in the world could have done. I think this is the BEST news because even though I didn't enjoy going through the mess, I firmly believe that those of us who purchase these machines can count on good service when needed. After owning a lot of machines over the years, it is my opinion that service is only second in importance to machine functionality.
SO... We are up and running. I haven't cut anything as yet but I will post some images and videos ASAP! I just wanted to update the forum.... and let folks know about my experience with Automate. I am more relaxed about the purchase now than I would have been if the problem had never happened. Like my Dad used to say... "Son, the proof is in the puddin". (That was Texan for Pudding). Dan.
Dan - that is good news, mostly about the service. Others have reported less than stellar support. So hopefully your experience is more typical!
I heard from Sean too, who said he is up and running and is happy with the lathe now.
Mine is on a slow boat from china - eta is Dec 31!!!!
Cant wait for pics/videos from you!
I had to wait almost 2 months to get my turret replaced and I'm going on a month now with spindle drive problems.