Someone has emailed our support with an interesting idea and suggested that we offer a refurbish program. It would look something like this: you’d send in and/or send photos of your old starter CNC machine that you want to sell and then we’d determine a price to buy it depending on its condition, as most of them will have different levels of wear and tear, and then Daniel would refurbish and improve the machine with our own upgrades and then resell it…either to the same person or someone else. I believe the intention was to suggest a trade-in program for the Dominator, but it would most likely need to take place as a separate transaction. This is only an idea to hash out and we aren’t sure yet if we are able to do this with rising costs of parts but we will think it over. There are a lot of machines already floating around out there and some just need some TLC or features improved upon and they’re good as new again. -Diana
We acknowledge that the Dominator is a top-of-the-line machine with the best features we can pack into a single machine. Because of this it carries a “second” or semi-pro level price-tag. Thus it is not considered a “starter” machine which puts it out of reach for newbies.
We love this hobby and want to see more people participating since that always drives innovation and the love of making in general. Thus we’re looking at options on how we can support the starter-machine market.
As we look at the current state of our market and economy we recognize that it may become very difficult to source certain things in the near term. So we’ve been thinking of ways we can help solve this issue and help the starter market.
We classify starter machines as those in the $2000-5000 price range and over the past 3-5 years we’ve seen a flood of machines from Carbide3D, 1f, and others. Thousands from that one company we were closest with in just a few years time. These machines are quickly becoming outdated. Older features like unshielded wires, open-loop steppers, dated controllers, poor maintenance, etc.
The reception of our conversion kit has been overwhelmingly positive. We’re already hearing stories of how much their machines have improved since they’ve converted their old machine.
We also acknowledge that converting a machine does take a level of knowledge that is often beyond your typical beginner in the hobby.
If we put all this together, we’re thinking if we had some kind of refurbishing program it would help everyone. Those interested in upgrading to their “second” machine as well as those wanting a lower cost-of-entry into the hobby.
This idea is still very much in its infancy but it does seem like something we should look into for the long-term sustainability of our hobby.
This is interesting. Tomorrow I’m picking up a non-functioning Probotix Nebula that I bought. It’s an as-is thing. It may not even have a controller.
Here’s the thing though. I just don’t think I can spring for the expense of a Masso based system for a rehab of an old benchtop. And I’m not sure I would want to spring for closed loop either.
We’ve been working closely with Masso and have something very special coming out which will lower the price for folks in your situation.
We also have a great relationship with BuildBotics where we could add their controller at nearly half the cost of a full Masso Touch.
