Quote:
Originally Posted by MICHAELABICK
We do make two robots, but now that I think about it, we wouldn't even be machining duplicate parts in high quantities(other than drive). Actually we almost lost a sponsor last year due to the workload we gave them, so we're trying to not repeat that during this next build season. I know multiple people have mentioned south bend for manual lathes and I also happen to know that 254 has a Jet(or at least had one). Do both of these companies make ok fine lathes for FRC purposes?
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There are probably hundreds if not many hundreds of machine shops within a reasonable distance of you. I would be surprised if you can't find multiple shops to assist you with CNC machining.
JET does not make good machines.
JET/Grizzly/etc are all made by the same factories, with different paint jobs and name plates. The only difference is country of origin. If it came from Taiwan it might be pretty decent to good. If it came from China it's almost certainly garbage. Maybe it'll last for awhile under light use and maybe you can still make good parts with it, but it will require 20x more work/operator skill to keep it running well.
Unfortunately there isn't a large market out there for really high quality new manual lathes. There's a few, but they're all $15,000+ for a 13x40 sized machine.
If you're writing a proposal for funding I'm guessing buying used is not an option. If so, you're either spending a lot of money for a high quality machine or half as much for a machine that will probably work fine for 4-5 years and then start showing issues due to quality, depending on how demanding you are of your machinery.
If you can buy used and have someone who can identify a good machine and help fix anything that might be wrong with it, you can find a machine that will be around in 30 years and still making good parts.