Mill on ebay

[Hellfire]

Hi all
i recently bought a small mill on eBay and to say I am extremely unhappy with it. The guy that sold it converts them from manual to Mach 3.
should I post a link to the item ?

i don't want anybody caught out like I was.

cheers for reading.

[cropwell]

It would be interesting to see what it is, what has been done to it and why you are unhappy with it.

[magicniner]

You could post a photo of yours, then we'd at least have something to look at ;-)

[Hellfire]

It was described as having servos with encoders on the drives and very accurate 0.01 mm on repeatability.
good for production runs. Everything setup and working.

got it and went to reference it and noticed the switch was in the wrong place for the x axis.
No ball screws on it, just the standard lead screws.
the z axis servo is atached to bevel gears and there is slap in the movement. He tells me there is zero backlash.
I will take some responsibility for not asking if there was ball screws and assuming there would be.

[magicniner]

How much backlash is there on each axis?

[Hellfire]

On the z axis just over 0.03 mm

[Dean jeffery]

I have seen this same mill and asked the seller a good few questions about it, he even posted vids of it on YouTube kinda proving with out load it does do what he said.
It's not good for you and feel sorry has you paid a higher price and seem to need to spend more to get what you should have had from the off.

[cropwell]

Looking at the original ad, my first impression is that it is cleverly worded.
.
There is no mention that ballscrews are fitted. But then again no mention that the machine uses the original leadscrews. Repeatable positional accuracy is quite possible when the machine is not cutting, so there is a bit of a mislead there, but is it intentional? I would tend to say yes.
.
The ad also states that it is 'laptop PC all set up. runs on mach3', but does not state specifically that a Mach3 licence is included. He ought to have deleted the licence file and stated that a licence for Mach3 will need to be purchased, but he could claim that this was oversight.
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If you were to seek Barristers Advice on the matter, you would probably be advised that the compensation you would gain would be outweighed by the costs you would incur. As for value for money, I would reckon that the price was reasonable for a hobby machine (have a look at ArcEuros conditions of sale) but the claim that it is suitable for production work would have to be checked by a qualified and respected engineer.
.
It seems this guy is buying Chinese mills and converting them to CNC as cheaply as possible. He is then using eBay 'Classified Ad' to shirk responsibility. Ebay might (but probably won't) check out his history to see if he is legit.
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I agree with the wall of shame, and I have my own immediate candidate, but we must be careful about the legalities and also be aware that it could be indiscriminately used by members with commercial interests. Already we have seen the forum used to promote products by 'customers' claims (but I am just skimming the surface).
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I have taken legal action in the past and won, only to be frustrated to find that the defendant was operating under a shell company with no assets to seize, so I ended up a further £1,000 out of pocket and in 1976 that was no joke. I would advise anybody to think twice before acting, then think again.

Bite the bullet Hellfire and fettle the machine to do the job, or if you can't - put it back on eBay.

Best of luck !!!

Rob