wanna see a $9,000 CNC inlay machine for cue??

[cuemaker]

http://home.stx.rr.com/n5wrx/cmon.jpg


Not a very good pic, but you get the idea

[Evan]

Are you saying that costs $9000?

[cuemaker]

yeah, according to the owner of that particular cnc machine.

And yes, i think I am saying its way over priced.

I am betting that David could build it for way less. Or heck, almost any of you out there could.

I guess my post had 2 points.

1. Am i correct in thinking its a rip off.

2. It shows what lack of knowledge people have. I am sure this guy thinks he has the best equipment for the money.

[Evan]

Hmm. I'm in the wrong business. I could crank out at least one of those a month in my spare time. I could use an extra 100 grand a year.

[cuemaker]

Am I correct in thinking that if one had the knowledge and desire to build one, it could be dont for a couple of thousand or less?

[Evan]

Let's see...

About $150 for the aluminum stock.

I can't tell what the lead screw is but I wouldn't be surprised if it was a 5 dollar piece of ready rod.

Maybe another $50 for a few bearings and such.

A couple of hundred for steppers and driver boards.

Allow a hundred for a spindle motor. I can supply a suitable computer and interface board for my cost of under $500.

Cost to build not including labor is $1000 US, tops, not including software.

[Wirecutter]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by cuemaker:
Am I correct in thinking that if one had the knowledge and desire to build one, it could be dont for a couple of thousand or less?</font>

...Unless there's something really magical about the machine that doesn't show up in the photo, yes.

Just because someone puts a $9000 price tag on the thing, doesn't mean many folks are going to rush right out and buy one. Well, one person did, obviously, but how many more?

If you have the talent to churn out machines that are like this at a rate of a few per month, you should get at least $100K/yr for it. Not the exact same machine over and over, but adaptations of a similar concept. Is this thing like a specialized/adapted CNC Sherline lathe? How about a version for doing fancy engravings on rifle barrels? Or one with a sensor head that will capture a 3D "scan" of a part and produce Cad info or G-codes for producing another... There are lots of possibilities.

Seems to me that this kind of thing is exactly what David does, depending on his current need.

[cuemaker]

Thats what I thought. Thanks Evan and Wirecutter.

At some point I am goin to need one of these or something like it.

Is this considered a "gantry" type?

[aboard_epsilon]

There is something magical ........
look at that cue its stained varnished and finished ready to pot black...hell of a machine that ..

all the best...mark

[Evan]

This is a simple gantry machine.

http://www3.telus.net/public/aschoepp/cncrouter.html

This one is a bit larger...

http://www.haascnc.com/details_VMC_G...1#VMCTreeModel

[This message has been edited by Evan (edited 01-30-2006).]