Opinions Wanted: Benchman Vmc4000

[markba633csi]

Saw one of these for sale on Ebay not too far from me- what do you guys think would be a fair price? It's running on Win98SE and has Spectracam software included- has the toolchanger and 10k rpm 1 HP spindle. I downloaded the manual and it looks like a pretty well built machine actually. Just not state of the fart.
Anyhow it looks like it would be a lot of fun, and an educational experience. I have not touched a mill since the 70's (let alone a CNC one) so I have no idea what these are worth or what particular problems they have, but this one looks pretty complete and turn-key. What do ya think?
Mark S.
Mt. View, Ca

 

[chip_slinger]

Mark, I've used these machines quite extensively in the 2001-2006 timeframe. We used them in a university environment and were decent enough for teaching engineers the basics of CNC machining. They aren't very rigid or powerful, so keep your expectations low on taking semi-aggressive cuts or working with anything tougher than plastics, aluminum, brass or very mild machining steels. They also aren't fast in terms of travel speeds.

I would strongly caution buying this if the machine isn't functioning 100% with the computer and you get the computer that is being used. Parts weren't available in 2006 to fix a broken one we had, so you would be hard pressed to fix one now. They run old software on old Windows machines and their computer interface cards use old standards that aren't used now. That is why it is key to get the functioning computer as part of it.

 

[markba633csi]

Thanks Mike, it ended up selling for more than I wanted to pay anyway (1800$) but it was complete with the computer and under power. It was a 2002 model so there was a chance it had a PCI controller card instead of ISA but I didn't have enough time to ask all the important questions. Oh well, I'm sure someone is happy with it. I liked the fact that it was made in USA and had R-8 spindle, the ways were steel cylindrical (like a Unimat) and had a 1hp spindle motor, so it looked like a nicely built little rig, and probably repairable, if not upgradable.
Mark S.
Mt. View, Ca

 

[backyard_cnc]

$1800 was a steal of a deal for that mill! You missed out. These are capable of some serious small scale work! Benchmen was the light industrial version of the LIGHT MACHINES and PROLIGHT educational models. I have the Light Machines TMC1000 version and it is awesome for plastics and Aluminium but is much lighter than the Benchman so steel machining can be tedious. Anything under $5k is a deal for one of these complete and in working order! The software on mine runs no problem under XP and PCI or ISA control card is not that important since there are loads of old PC's around for basically free that can run this stuff. If it all fails a conversion to MACH3 is a straight forward process ! If you see another grab it quick!


Gerald