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The time has come to part with my Novakons - a Torus Pro and a Pulsar, both with AC servos. The Pro, of course, has the PDB. Is there much market for these, or should I just find some good cause to donate them to? Any idea what they might sell for these days?
Greetings,
What is a "PDB"?
Where are you located?
Cheers,
Dave
Welcome back Ray.
I would think a used Novakon mill is definitely worth selling as compared to donating. I would look at an equivalent used Tormach selling price and then apply the same discount that existed when buying new. Maybe enlist the help of Santa Cruz Electronics (Tormach dealer)?
I don’t see anything on eBay, but here is a Torus Pro listed for $7,000 on Craigslist in Denver. This mill has a lot of hours, no enclosure, and needs the Y-axis bearing replaced.
https://denver.craigslist.org/tls/d/...619997189.html
Attachment 493504
What kind of hours and backlash do your machines have? Pictures would be great to see.
Edit: PDB stand for Power Draw Bar.
My opinion is to ask top dollar on craigslist , facebook market etc , the worst that can happen is you'd have to drop your price . Aside from the novakon suck website - the overall opinion of torus and pulsar is pretty good . Service was a bit off at a certain point but overall that was good for the most part .
It's a drag they're orphaned machines but I look at my torus and figure I'll be asking at least half to 2/3 of what I paid for it , and it has an extreme amount of use . Worse that can happen is I sell it for less which I'd be fine with anyhow . It's just takes the right guy at the right time which goes with selling anything
Also most guys looking for a mill like this is going to know that parts can be sourced from numerous chinese suppliers , plus there are other companies selling the same mill but just configured differently .
Santa Cruz, CAQuote:
Where are you located?
Backlash is, as expected, ~0.0005". I have no problems holding dimensions within a thou across hundreds of parts.Quote:
What kind of hours and backlash do your machines have?
One of my concerns, with the Torus Pro, is it is highly customized. It was always my primary machine. I immediatey ditched Mach3, and replaced it with my own CNC controller app, running over a KFlop. I ripped out and replaced the entire oiling system with a pressure-fed system that tailors oil deliverry to each individual way, and each ballnut. Of course, it has my PDB, and my 12-tool ATC, which, given it never went into production, I cannot provide any support for. So, to me, I either have to sell it as a "kit" that needs to be converted back to some standard cconfiguration by a more than usually knowledgable buyer, or spend the time to convert it myself, and sell it as a more-or-less stock machine, Of course, I do have a HUGE supplu of tooling, including probably 50 TTS tool holders of various shapes and sizes (several difference sizes of set-screw holders, dozens of ER20 and ER32 holders, 6 home-built tension/compression tapping heads, Tapmatic and Procunier tapping heads, numerous face mills up to a 5" Glacern with six inserts, several slitting saws, probably 5 or 6 vises in different sizes, including a 6" Glacern, three 4 or 5" lathe chucks, and more.
The Pulsar is actually a pre-production machine, with a few minor differences from the final production version, and I don't even recall what those differenecs are, other than slightly shorter travels. It is currently running with a SmoothStepper and UCCNC.
And spare spindles for both machines.
I have not used either machine in probably 3 years. Don't think I've even powered them on!
It can't be that difficult for someone to restore the torus to original state and running mach if they chose to , can it ? . I'm guessing your still running the original electronics plus your addons , or at least still have the old elecronics kicking around ?
Honestly I believe you may be over thinking it . Put them for sale at top dollar and if no one bites then it would be a good time to rethink it . Obviously new stuff depreciates but determining how much is dependent on a lot of factors . I buy a lot of used toys and I'm a deal hunter . I'll use it for a while and get bored with it or want to upgrade . I'll typically sell for more than I paid or worst case at the same price , though I've taken a few hits lol . All in all it's always best to start at top dollar and you can drop your price some if or when the right guy comes along
My observation is that guys like addons , and it seems tinkering with machines is more exciting than running for a lot of the hobby guys .
Anyone who reads these forums know how much time and effort you put into your torus . There's a lot of valuable time and money that you put into that mill . If a noob buys it then learning the mill functionality is the least of whats in front of them , and anyone with experience will be able to figure out what you've got going .
Your backlash is amazing. I have 2 thou backlash in Y and 6 thou in Z on my Torus (mechanically is a NM-145). Not really sure what my options are to rectify this.Quote:
Originally Posted by SCzEngrgGroup
Does your Pulsar have the upgraded base that can handle tons of coolant flow?
Did you graduate to a better CNC mill?Quote:
I have not used either machine in probably 3 years. Don't think I've even powered them on!
Sooooo... Finally need to get very serious about selling my Torus Pro, as we just put our house on the market, and expect a quick sale. The machine, as it is, is so highly customized, in both hardware and software, to MY needs, that I feel I must convert it to a more standard configuration that its new owner could understand and support. The big question is: what hardware and software should I use?
On the hardware side, it currently uses a KFlop, a custom BOB, and a custom serial pendant. I suspect a different controller board and BOB would be better for the average buyer. What is out there now? I have used SmoothStepper, but never found it to be 100% robust. Has that changed? Is there another controller that I should be looking at? And what about BOBs? I havven't even looked at that market in almost 10 years.
On the software side, I am currently running a CNC controller app I wrote myself. Obviously, that has to go in favor of something off-the shelf, and supported. I will rule out Mach3 and Mach4, and considering UCCNC, as I am at least familiar with it. But is there something newer/better I should be considering?
One option that looks interesting is the AXBB-E. Anyone using this, or know anything about it? As a controller and BOB in one, it looks attractive, and easy to setup.
best low cost options are linuxcnc , pathpilot or ucnc , I'd lean towards the first 2
Chances are that the sale value that you'll gain by putting in the effort will be minimal if existent .
I'm not familiar with kflop but can't you just sell it as it is ? You can point a buyer to your threads here which you put up a lot of documentation into .
If you feel the need to change it up then I think you'd be better off to put it back to stock with mach , that is if you still have the old gear and it isn't too much trouble . Otherwise if you do have the old gear then sell the mill with it and the buyer can put it back to stock with mach if they decide they don't like kflop
I did a conversion from the Mach 3 demo to UCCNC software and a UCCNC UC300ETH-5LPT motion controller on my Novakon Torus (NM145 iron with Pulsar electronics). I was able to use the existing Win7 computer motherboard and Novakon BOB.
There is a combo deal going on at CNCdrive (maker of UCCNC) right now for 266 Euro ($284 USD). Includes the software, AXBB-E, UCSB BOB, two power supplies and cables. Deal ends April 30.
AXBB-E + UCSB breakout board + 1xIDC26-IDC26 cables + MS25-24 power supply + MS25-05 powersupply + free UCCNC license key - CNCdrive - webshop
Attachment 504414
There are slightly less expensive combo deals, including ones with the UC300ETH-5LPT, shown below.
Motion controller + breakout board combos - CNCdrive - webshop
I bought my Torus pro from John stripped, as I wanted to install my controls from the start. I went with UC300ETH-UB1 and UCCNC. It is a very well built breakout board with all I/O I needed built in. Since you are moving are you cleaning out anything left over from your Power draw bar or tool changer projects? This group of people may be the most interested, as we are stilling running them.Quote:
Originally Posted by SCzEngrgGroup