All Chris said on this forum about ballendo is true. PCB driller that
ballendo is promising, is never going to happen which means to you one
thing: guys, do not wait for it, build your own!
Many things changed in 1.5 year since the original announcement and
many people built their machines, so what was hot back than, I don't
think is as hot any more.
Your idea of a $600 machine needs to be revisted: you cannot do it
although Fred did something similar:
http://www.cadcamcadcam.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=121as far as I can tell, Fred's machine resembles ballendo's specs almost
exactly, scratch the servos.
I do not recall ballendo ever mentioning laser cut sheet metal except
for yesterday. Who knows, maybe there was a discussion on a CNC group
in the past and laser cutting sheet metal was mentioned? However,
coincidence of it, is stunning: one day Fred announced his machine and
few days later ballendo is doing a marketing research with the same
specs.
Having said that, instead of describing a pattern of behavior, I am
asking a question, can a machine, like Fred listed, be built for $600
with stepper motors and a controller? I am not sure if ballendo
offered to add a Dremel but probbaly not so let's assume that a Dremel
tool is on top of the $600, ie, the PCB drilelr becomes a $700
machine.
The answer is:
1. Sheetmetal (material, laser cutting and bending): $300
2. Leadscrews $100
3. Motors (they will be direct coupled): $50
4. adapters, screws, bolts, nuts: $20
5. Machine has to glide on something, Fred's is gliding on slides and
they are not cheap, so: 150
6. Machining, drilling: one hour=$60
7. Packaging: $30
8. Controller: $100
9. Power supply (maybe he didn't include one) $40. By the way, www.mfj
is out of them until Nov 30)
Total: $850 Of course, there is no profit in it (and no spindle either)
and I do not expect a product without a profit. Now, let's talk about
Fred's machine for a sec: servos $100x3, controller $600=$1000
Do you see that Fred's machine costs $1000, motors and controller are
another $1000 and software included is free? And he also gave you a
free spindle.
Question is how long can Fred advertise that machine before increasing
the prise...
Feel free to correct my numbers.
Mike
as usual, there is a cheaper alternative: www.kleinbauer.com :)