Hey guys,
My business partner and I recently formed our company 4 months ago. We started out in a small 900sq ft shop and have now moved into a 3500sq ft shop. My background is in custom cabinetry while his is in metal work. We have primarily been doing custom desks, tables, built in cabinetry, railings, gates, furniture. Recently we have become linked up with a plastic injection molding company (my business partners father is friends with the owner of the factory).
So we have this job opportunity to finish 5000 plastic models with an end total of 20000 units. That's the finishing portion that we have already been contracted to do in our new finishing booth. Great.
The second part of the job that was offered to us was to machine the same number of display bases. The parts are 1" thick, 20" diameter particle board circles with 2 holes milled for mounting the models.
The thinking is that we buy a cnc to mill all of the circles, get us through the job, I would use it to process the cabinetry jobs that continue to come in, and have a machine for the next display job, and eventually upgrade it when the time is right.
Being that we are 4 months old and have no credit history we can forget about financing a 130-200k system. I contacted SCM, CR Onsrud, KOMO, biesse, stiles/weeke, Thermwood for quotes.
That essentially leaves us with the used market and trying to get a high interest loan for a lower priced machine that will be paid for by the job. We were looking at a used Multicam MG205 and a KOMO I'm waiting to hear back on from the rep at KOMO. Downsides being no warranty, no idea on machine use/abuse other than run time hours, most systems are not operational or they are out of state for inspection, no idea on problems with the machine or what is about to break down, overall quality of the system.
Is it worth it to go the used route to save money?
The only feasibly priced, brand new machine I have been offered was the SCM Pratika300. I won't list the price here, but for the amount on that machine we can secure a loan and pay it off completely with the first order of 5000 units. It is a lot more than I would be paying for the used system we are looking at, but it's also a new machine, comes with warranty, set up/ training, reputable company, ready to ship.
Having never dealt with any of these systems I have no bearing to make a sound decision. My gut tells me pay more and buy the Pratika300. Use it as an entry cnc and continue to for years to come until we outgrow it as a company.
I was hoping someone on here might have had experience using or owning one that could give me some insight on it.