Upgrading my shop to a Shopbot

[toolman1953]

Hello All
I have been in the cabinet business for 35 yrs and wanted to upgrade my shop to a Shopbot. I have been looking for the past 3 yrs. and finally found one in a barn laying in the hay 2 miles from where i was working. I put the machine together and it went together really well. It checked square and all the bearing and rails look good with no rust on anything. it looks like the machine was not used much at all. It came with a desk top PC that was not working. I was wanting to find out if i should go back to a PC control box or upgrade to the new control box that sets under the machine. The motors came with it but i am sure when i upgrade the motors will not work. I need some expert advice on the route to take with the control box and the motors to use to upgrade. I do not know what machine i have i think it is a PRT Alpha but not sure. The person i bought it from said he thought it was a 2006 model. Looking forward to being on the forum. Thanks guys for all your help. By the way Happy Fathers Day to All. My Dad taught me all i know about cabinets if only he could see how times have changed he would have been amazed with the SHOPBOT and the Forum.

[Simops]

Welcome David....

It certainly looks in good nick! Have you spoken to Shopbot?

btw that pic of the PC case is interesting as it has Shopbot logo on it.....I wonder if Shopbot used to supply a control computer at some stage???

Cheers

[Brady Watson]

that pic of the PC case is interesting as it has Shopbot logo on it.....I wonder if Shopbot used to supply a control computer at some stage???


That's a PRT model control box, which used an ATX case and power supply to get 5 & 12vdc. No computer.

-B

[gerryv]

Those look like standard rather than alpha motors but they should be fine and give you good resolution. It looks like the Gecko drivers and control boards are missing from the control box. In that case I would likely choose to go with a new standard control box after confirming things with Shopbot tech support because the cost would not necessarily be that much higher than rebuilding your existing controller and you'd be we'll positioned for the future. That's just one opinion though. That's a nice machine you got there.

[highway]

David

Nice barn find im sure you will get her running and good luck

highway

[toolman1953]

Thanks everyone for the good advice. I will be calling Shopbot this coming week. Is there anyone special there i should speak to when i call.

[jerry_stanek]

If shopbot has the 4g box I think that would be less than the newest one.

[dana_swift]

David- prepare for another great thing about shopbot- real live humans answer the phone! At least during business hours. (unless something has changed in the last few months) None of that "press a number for another menu that leads nowhere".

Not only that, but the person who answers the phone will be able to find you a person who can really help you. SB has hired some really fine people!

Service like that, makes me love shopbot even more than having such a great machine to work with when the thing is running correctly. Which is almost all the time :) I have not needed tech support now in years.

D