1 Attachment(s)
Avid CNC 4848 pro (4'x4') build
This thread details the original discussion around the Avid CNC vs Axiom AR4 vs Hammer HNC machines. I thought I'd start a new, clean thread with costs involved, and to document the build.
3 main reasons for choosing the Avid CNC:
- Expandability - the modular construction means I can start small, and add on at will. I originally planned on getting the 2x4', but decided on the 4x4' when I thought about shipping etc.
- Format - the other machines I was considering were narrow and long, whereas the Avid 2x4 was wide and short - so better suited to my space.
- Price. By the time you spec the Hammer (usual Felder story - the price you see is not the price you pay!) and Axiom up, the Avid wasn't a huge amount more. Having said that, if it wasn't for the COVID-inspired tax incentives, I'd never have even considered these machines.
I mess about with sheet goods a lot, so it was important that the work area could deal with reasonable fraction of a sheet - 1/4 or 1/2 or full. Then it's not too difficult to tile/index the sheet for the job.
The machine finally arrived last week. Avid quote around 12 weeks from payment to shipping. This was about correct. Shipping then took another two months, thanks to COVID and some bugger parking a dirty great ship across the Suez canal. It came by UPS Ocean service, and would have arrived a week earlier if I didn't live in the extreme rural town of Newcastle. UPS will deliver directly to metropolitan areas. Anything else gets transferred to Toll.
Shipping weight was 323kg. Great service from Toll - UPS never sent me any tracking info for the final leg of the journey, so the Toll man turned up at my door with a 300kg pallet, and nobody home to receive it. He unpacked the whole pallet and lugged the boxes up the stairs to put them behind my deck screening. Then the missus moved them into the garage when she got home as I was fortuitously working late :;.
It's a lot of boxes:
Attachment 495266
Costs:
Add up the cost of the machine and extras - all on the Avid Website.
Convert to USD, and wire the $ to Avid. They take the cash up front - not when they ship.
Shipping was just shy of US$1500. ie about as much as a hobby CNC will cost you here! I think COVID has impacted this hugely - getting anything from the US now costs an arm and a leg. Or several in this case.
When the machine lands here, you will need to pay:
GST on (the original purchase + shipping). Note that the AU$ value is calculated when the goods land in Aus - not when you bought it. In may case, the AUD had strengthened a fair amount, so I paid less GST this way.
I was NOT charged any duty - I can't guarantee that this would be the case for anyone else, but it looks like the US-AU free trade agreement came into play.
However, it still had to go through customs, which means I had to pay UPS (as customs agent) + import declaration fee + quarantine fee + disbursements (whatever that is) + GST on that little lot. Just short of AU$400. I expect this would be relatively fixed, so if you could find a busload of people and brought in a container full of CNC's, it'd still be $400.
Avid have been excellent. Set up a video call after some initial email to-and-fro when I was thinking of the machine, and were very helpful throughout the process. A few of the boxes arrived damaged - looks like it's cosmetic, but I emailed Avid to let them know as it'll be a while before I can check everything. 'No problem - just let us know if anything's damaged and we'll priority ship it to you. It's all covered under shipping warranty'. They appear pretty customer focussed.
I spent the weekend cleaning up the workshop and clearing space for the build. Final footprint is around 1700mmx1700mm as the electronic boxes set on the outside of the frame. I'll put pictures up as I go along.