I got some BIG news!! As I said in my last update I was able to sell my beloved RF45 CNC mill that all of you here helped me build. I have been wishing for a decent used VMC for many years now and I am proud to say that yesterday afternoon I FINALLY BOUGHT ONE!! I found a local fellow who has a very nice condition 1994 Cincinatti Arrow 500 VMC. It does have an issue that the Z axis drive is blown on it but I have already checked on the support for the machine. It is still supported by the manufacturer of the control and I can get the drive professionally refurbished for a grand with a year warranty. The fellow that owns the machine has recently upgraded to a beautiful Fadal vmc6030 and had apparently had the Y axis fail on the cincinatti about a year ago and got it repaired and then maybe a month or two later the Z failed and he basically decided to just buy the newer much larger machine. SO the good news is I got it for a VERY low price and I pretty much already know what is wrong with it. The bad news is that it has been sitting for over a year now and the batteries in the control died so I will have to refresh the parameters in it before I can run it once the Z is back from repair.

Right now I am hurriedly trying to re-arrange the shop to accept the largest machine I have ever bought. It is about an 8 foot square and a little over eight feet tall. I will probably have to remove some stuff from the top of the machine or possibly dismantle the garage door overhead to get it in the shop but once it is in the ceiling is like 9 and a half feet high so no issues there. Right now the biggest fish I have to fry is the move of the machine. I plan to use my Daughter's Ford F350 diesel dually 4x4 truck and a borrowed heavy equipment trailer to move it here and probably have to rent a large fork truck at both ends. I got a quote from a local CNC mover and he told me he would move it and place/level it for $1200.00 . I thought that was a bit much so I am gonna probably do it myself. Having moved quite a few large machines over the years for myself and my employers I feel confident in this. However this will be by far the largest machine I have ever owned. It weighs around 7k lbs and I am so excited to finally have a REAL vmc. I realize this is not the best or the brightest VMC out there but for my meager money it is a HUGE step up from my little RF45. It has Cat40 tooling, rigid tapping, a 20 tool carousel changer, a 20x20x20 machining envelope, and is fourth axis capable. I have lots to do to prepare for the big move and I hope to bring her here in about a week and a half. Wish me luck guys as I move into the next phase of my CNC evolution. hehe peace

Pete