It's been awhile since we checked in. Got wrapped up in the shop I guess.
We have made great strides in our machines over the past few months, refining and pretty much reworked the whole system.
Came up with a board building machine with an all aluminum rail and gantry system and innovative base/table make up. These new machines boast a cut area of 3' x 8' with 5" depth of cut.
The footprint of the unit is 4' x 9' yet it ships in a box that is 54" x 46" x 16". It is entirely modular the shipping box is the table/base framework folded in half. Everything packs inside nicely and the X rails ship in a tube.
Motion Test Video....
Should a customer wish to increase the width of the cut area they just need to bolt on a longer gantry rail. We are pretty excited about where we've come from.
Here is another vid of the very first cut test on this model.
Hope y'all like it. Hit us up for more info.......
Thanks for the comments all, we have been working very long hard hours only to be way behind.
Website updates and new posts may come slowly for some time to come as our schedual doesn't allow much computer time. However we try to always take time to speak with folks and answer questions as best we can.
In the interest of saving time I will try to answer the questions from several forums in this one reply, lol
- believe shipping to Europe is not a problem other than paperwork and the added cost for frieght. Hit me up and I can get a quote for exporting one to you.
- 3' has proven to be optimal for board crafters of all kinds not just snowboards and skis. Kiteboard and wakeboard builders can now squeeze in dual cutting projects. Short board sk8 builders can line up multiple decks inside the cut area for mass cutting. Surfboard makers can adapt the rails and gantry system to accomodate 3D carving of foam blanks. And so many more applications with a larger cut area
- Yes customers are using these machines for die cutting plastics. Most use a smal diameter spiral router bit for the task. However there are kits that will adapt a router collet and allow it to accept a drag knife blade. IMO that is a great investment for cutting base materials. You can program the machine to make succesive shallow passes with a drag blade using the CNC like a giant plotter/cutter.
- The base price for this design has increased to $4890. We are using much higher quality electronics and stronger materials, not to mention had to hire some help too.
Sorry for the price jump. Yet even adding a 2+ hp router, bits, and software to the base cost, I doubt you'll find a machine that offers what ours will, or is better suited for board makers, than the Bear.
- We learned to build these in much the same way we takled board building....Research (forums like these) and a butt load of effort and failure. The more into it you get the faster you discover all the ways that don't work or aren't right. Just keep pushing forward, most of the small builders I work with and know of put out far superior products than large factories any day.
Not having the resources and funding that giant coorporations are afforded generally results in very creative solutions to big issues. For instance- Sidewalls. They are (or can be) a bain of a board makers existance in many ways, but small builders have not been detered from their projects by that. Look at all of the alternatives that have cropped up in the past few years.....
That's it for now. Thanks again to all and we will try to answer all replies as soon as we can...
That's awesome. CNC is on my build plan for next year.
Would you consider selling plans or build-it-yourself kits for one of these? I don't know how feasible it would be to order one and have it shipped from the states.
I have set the current lead time at 12 weeks. That is only because we are booked on these (8 right now including this one) and all are late.
That being said this initial one so far has been a 3 week build, compared to a 3 - 4 month build on the former models. We're going over it with a fine tooth comb so it isn't being rushed. Each consecutive one will be considerably less time consuming to build however, and I look to lower that lead time drastically soon.
I plan on assembling several gantries by the end of this weekend. If we can keep pace we should clear the back log of machines in a month.
Still if you want one and you can, it may be best to get in the rotation sooner rather than later.
Also along that note; This machine is heading to Colorado later this week/Monday. The customer has recently changed his mind however, and no longer wants it. We are not in a position to just reverse course on this and have no choice but to ship it or sell it. If it ships he'll have to sell it, I know all he wants is to recoup his investment. This presents a unique opportunity of immediate availability for a change. Any one interested please PM or email me.
@ Doughboy - We have a machine coming to Sammash WA (?) in a week or so. Is that close to you? That gentleman is also going to be a rep/demonstrator in that area. Should be able to put ya'll in touch if it will help.
Our core work is stalled out due to the machine schedual but I am bringing in a friend of mind and fellow laminator to help ease the burden there and get things back on track.
I'll post some pics tomorrow it's been a very long day, night all.
Awesome! So nice to see one move. What kind of feed rates are you getting and whats your resolution?
We only have one axis moving on ours, still awaiting the rest of our resistors that are suddenly on back order, however ours should be fired up and profiling cores in a month
