Help please - What is Dad's CNC machine??

[Jellybean]

Hi everyone,

Newbie here, please be nice!

I have a mammoth task that I really need some help with, I hope I'm in the right place for some friendly advice from some people in-the-know.

My Dad died 3 weeks ago. I'm currently clearing out his house, which is no easy task in and of itself. But his pride and joy was his CNC machine, which took pride of place in his workshop. He was just a hobbyist and this was his first attempt at building one from scratch but he spent about 2 years on it, before he died and said he spent a lot of money on it, too.

In the weeks before he died, he made it VERY clear to me that he didn't want the house clearance people to take it and bin it, or sell it off for peanuts. He wanted me to try to get some money for it - but also, he wanted it to go to a good home, a fellow amateur/hobbyist, if you will. So I told him I would do my best.

I have no idea what this thing is or what it does and I have no idea where to start! Here's hoping the good folks of this forum can help me. Any hints, tips or useful info will be very much appreciated.

[Doddy]

Firstly - you have my sympathy (and I've been in similar situations far too many times recently... though never with the problem of finding a home for a router).

So, from first look, it certainly looks a home-brew flat-bed 2.5 axis extruded aluminium router with wooden bed. You're missing a spindle-motor (the thing that bolts onto the tall column that does the actual work of cutting or drilling), at least from the pictures provided. The design looks to be useful for low-speed, light cutting of things like MDF, Balsa or foam (do you know what he made with it?) - it could be very good for a radio-control aircraft enthusiast / model maker.

But, it is very much an enthusiast's machine, and you'd have to target the right buyer who would be prepared to take this on as a continuing project. Sold-as-seen, so to speak.

The value is very much what someone is prepared to pay for it - and machines like this rarely pay back the effort, time or money spent building them - they are worth the sum of the bits that are currently fitted. If I was trying to sell I'd be looking at sites like this or eBay, and simply advertise with all of the images you've provided there (if you can get more images around the long threaded rods - that's useful information) - give the overall machine dimensions (better to get a photo of the reading on a tape measure so people understand how/where you've measured - I'd simply go from the width, depth and if possible overall height and let the buyer determine what that's likely to mean in terms of actual work area. Be honest that you don't understand much about the machine and put it on under auction for someone to bid up an initial price. Invite (and welcome) inspections prior to bidding but be clear that (unless you know how) that you cannot demonstrate it working. That initial price is the hard bit - I'd suggest trying from £400 and see where it goes.

[Lee Roberts]

Hi Shelley, welcome to the forum...

Sorry to read about your dad passing, thank you for registering here to seek help with your dad's wishes, your in good hands and I'm pleased to be able to assist you in doing what he wanted the most.

I believe your dad's CNC machine is a machine called an "OX CNC Router", you can find a link to this machine here: https://openbuilds.com/builds/openbu...c-machine.341/

This machine is a DIY machine your dad more than likely built from the ground up, using most of the parts in a kit he probably would have purchased from one of the OpenBuild Distributors.

It looks to me like it maybe one of the earlier versions of this machine and your dad also added his own modifications to some of it, I'm not sure what it's worth but the Ooznest version of this machine (original machine design with improvements) is for sale on their website as a mechanical kit: https://ooznest.co.uk/product/ox-cnc-mechanical-kit/

I'm not sure what size your dad's machine is but you can work that out and get the kit price on the link above, as it's a built machine (possibly ready to run) I think it would be fair and ok for you to take that into consideration when deciding on a sale price.

I hope that gives you enough info to make some decisions, if not please feel free to ask again, we also have our own "For Sale" section if you wanted to list the machine in there: Items For Sale, if not then eBay is probably your best bet.

Kind Regards,
Lee

Edit: Thanks Doddy, I clearly took to long writing my message out lol...(currently mobile)

[AndyUK]

Hi Shelly,

My condolences.

Lee and Doddy have already given you the best advice, so there isn't much to add, other than it's a shame that the value of these machines second hand just doesn't justify all the blood sweat and tears your dad will have poured into it. It will however have been something your dad will have known getting into the hobby.

I can say however that if you manage to find a buyer using this forum, it is highly likely they'll be more interested than the average Joe.

Best Wishes



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[Voicecoil]

Aye, my sympathies are with you too lad - I had to dismantle and clear my father's workshop around the beginning of the year and as an engineer myself it was a hard thing to do. Best of luck selling the router, being made from a well known kit I'm sure you won't have any problems.

[Jellybean]

Wow, thank you all SO much for your help! It is rather manic here at the moment but I have managed to get the machine on eBay for £399. It's had a lot of views and 28 watchers but no bids or questions yet. It's a shame that eBay only allow 12 photos, I have a lot more! I have encouraged people to ask for them, though, or to come round and have a look at it in person. I will also post on your 'Items for sale' section here.

[Lee Roberts]

Hiya did you manage to find a home for the machine.