Got my CAMaster in and running too!!

[Scott Shepherd]

Dan, you don't have the machine you won on July 4th yet?

Sounds like 2nd shift needs to pick up the pace! Geez, that was 2 months ago!

[Dan Hintz]

Ever seen one of those kids who has a real bad streak to him, but he just got in trouble? You know, the one in the timeout corner sitting on his hands who is just dieing to go play, but he knows deep down he has to take it like a man and suffer through the wait?

Yeah, that's kind of like me with patience. I have so very little, I'm like a kid on Christmas. I see some new toy, then I pick up multiple books and Google the snot out of it to learn whatever I can, which pushes me over the edge to actually go out and purchase something. I'm doing my best to sit on my hands and wait until mom says I can get out of the corner... but I'm getting jittery.

Since winning the Stinger, I've researched bandsaws... and I have money tucked away for an 18" Jet when they go on sale later this month. I researched more powerful dust collection... and I have money tucked away for a Penn State DC and Wynn filter when the Stinger arrives. I researched lathes, and I've picked out a nice metal lathe that will do double duty for smaller wood projects... money is tucked away, but I need to get the Stinger in first so I can figure out where a lathe would fit. Somewhere in there I need to add in a drill press, so I've squirreled away $1k for something with variable speed and a 6" quill. Plenty of smaller items are also on my "to get immediately" list, like a grinding wheel. I spent $1k within a week of learning about winning the Stinger, and within the next month I will be spending another $4k or more. Thank God I haven't gotten into full woodworking mode yet or else I'd be adding in a jointer, planer, sander, and a better table saw to that list

I'm glad companies deliver! About the only thing that would fit in the Z would be the grinder.

[Keith Outten]

Dan,

I sent a check to cover both your machine and mine 3 months ago. Obviously the waiting list is very long for a new Stinger. Mine is scheduled to arrive on Thursday the 16th if all goes well, got my fingers crossed

Your Stinger has to be right behind mine or Richard Link's so Joey should have a delivery date for you shortly. In the meantime it is pretty cool to look at Nick's new machine being unloaded. I don't have access to a fork lift but I have a John Deere that can handle the task of placing my new Stinger in my shop next week
.

[Mike Package]

Dan, you don't have the machine you won on July 4th yet?

Sounds like 2nd shift needs to pick up the pace! Geez, that was 2 months ago!

I placed my order and deposit on 6/2. So obviously things slowed down. But, didn't we see this coming? Killer product at just the right target market and price. It was bound to take off and create high demand. Factor that in with Joey planning to gear up a production line (which adds time "overhead" during that ramp up time versus just building as fast as possible, I'm sure). So while I'm antsy as all get-out, I'm also not surprised, and not really disappointed. More owners will make for a larger, more helpful community.

[Joey Jarrard]

Thanks mike. Yours and dans is in the picture. I let it be known that the 4th of July winner would not be put in front of a paying customer. I did know we had a good thing at a good price but never thought we would get the response we got. It is good though trial by fire. Keiths and 2 cobras are out next week then the next week we have Richard and 5 stinger table tops and one cobra. Then the next week 5 more stingers. We will be back at full staff on Monday and then its butt kicking time. Our shop looks like a sea of yellow. Thanks to all who has in one way or another helped now it's time to buzz. The active stinger family will grow 150% in the next 3 weeks and it will keep growing. At this rate it would be a safe bet that dans will not be the last great cnc give away.

[Mick A Martin]

Thanks mike. Yours and dans is in the picture. I let it be known that the 4th of July winner would not be put in front of a paying customer. I did know we had a good thing at a good price but never thought we would get the response we got. It is good though trial by fire. Keiths and 2 cobras are out next week then the next week we have Richard and 5 stinger table tops and one cobra. Then the next week 5 more stingers. We will be back at full staff on Monday and then its butt kicking time. Our shop looks like a sea of yellow. Thanks to all who has in one way or another helped now it's time to buzz. The active stinger family will grow 150% in the next 3 weeks and it will keep growing. At this rate it would be a safe bet that dans will not be the last great cnc give away.

Glad to hear the Stinger's are leaving your shop, that way I am not the only one out there with a Stinger.

Since winning the Stinger, I've researched bandsaws... and I have money tucked away for an 18" Jet when they go on sale later this month. I researched more powerful dust collection... and I have money tucked away for a Penn State DC and Wynn filter when the Stinger arrives. I researched lathes, and I've picked out a nice metal lathe that will do double duty for smaller wood projects... money is tucked away, but I need to get the Stinger in first so I can figure out where a lathe would fit. Somewhere in there I need to add in a drill press, so I've squirreled away $1k for something with variable speed and a 6" quill. Plenty of smaller items are also on my "to get immediately" list, like a grinding wheel. I spent $1k within a week of learning about winning the Stinger, and within the next month I will be spending another $4k or more. Thank God I haven't gotten into full woodworking mode yet or else I'd be adding in a jointer, planer, sander, and a better table saw to that list

I'm glad companies deliver! About the only thing that would fit in the Z would be the grinder.

Looks like you have a good shopping list of tools, the good thing is you only buy them once, I stated out buying my woodworking tools first, then I upgraded into the CNC world.

Mick

[Dan Hintz]

Mick,

That shop is entirely too clean for one that is supposedly actively being used

[Scott Shepherd]

I let it be known that the 4th of July winner would not be put in front of a paying customer.

I never saw that posted anywhere. I thought Keith plopped down 1/2 the cost of the machine? If so, then he's a paying customer for that July 4th machine. Just seems like a LOOOOOONG time to get a machine, won in contest or not. The 4th of July drawing was announced 2 months early, so we're 4-5 months after it was known about. Seems like it should have been built and crated, waiting for July 5th. It's not like it was a free machine, someone paid some cash for it.

If I was a paying customer (and I could be, since I'm in the market for a 4' x 8' machine), I'd be a quite concerned it takes 2,3,4, or 5 months to get a machine.

How long does it take to get a 4' x 8' machine?

[Richard Link]

Thanks mike. Yours and dans is in the picture. I let it be known that the 4th of July winner would not be put in front of a paying customer. I did know we had a good thing at a good price but never thought we would get the response we got. It is good though trial by fire. Keiths and 2 cobras are out next week then the next week we have Richard and 5 stinger table tops and one cobra. Then the next week 5 more stingers. We will be back at full staff on Monday and then its butt kicking time. Our shop looks like a sea of yellow. Thanks to all who has in one way or another helped now it's time to buzz. The active stinger family will grow 150% in the next 3 weeks and it will keep growing. At this rate it would be a safe bet that dans will not be the last great cnc give away.

Thanks for the update Joey. Glad to hear that business is booming. I imagine it is a bit stressful but gotta be satisfying as well to know you hit the sweet spot of demand.

I, for one, am a bit concerned about getting this thing off the truck and into the garage as I don't have easy access to a forklift, or tractor, etc. I've got a decent pallet jack which I use to move around some of the big equipment without difficulty. Does the 48x48 Stinger II come on a standard pallet that could be manhandled around with a pallet jack? It doesn't have to move very far as it's new home is right inside the door. I move my Felder combo around with the jack without trouble and that's got to be twice as heavy and larger to boot. If that's just crazy talk for the Stinger crate, please let me know.

I've got a good rigging company that I've used in the past and I can probably work out something without difficulty (maybe that's the better part of valor anyway). If I need to use the company, they generally like to have the machinery delivered directly to their facility so I might have to change the shipping address for you guys.

Richard

[Nicholas Bukky]

Richard,
I don't know what your property is like but as you can see in the pics I rented a 5000lbs construction forklift to unload mine. It was about 400 bucks for a day from the local equipment rental place and I used it for about 20min....

I like to do things by myself though!

Good luck!
Nick

[Nicholas Bukky]

Scott,
Think maybe CAMaster paid for the other half?

Just sayin.....

Nick

[Scott Shepherd]

Scott,
Think maybe CAMaster paid for the other half?

Just sayin.....

Nick

Very true, but your external customer HAS paid. So saying it's not a paying customer is not completely accurate. Keith paid.

Also, a Paying customer ordered first part of June and they still don't have their machine. That's 4 months for a paying customer. What chance does Dan have if "paying" customers take 4 months?

[Richard Link]

Very true, but your external customer HAS paid. So saying it's not a paying customer is not completely accurate. Keith paid.

Also, a Paying customer ordered first part of June and they still don't have their machine. That's 4 months for a paying customer. What chance does Dan have if "paying" customers take 4 months?

Scott, just to chime in a bit. We're all getting ansy about getting our machines and it's ok. The forum tends to be a good place to let off steam. On the other hand, the guys at Camaster have been very straight with me from the beginning on the lag time in getting the machine. I, and most of the other Stinger and Stinger II customers, recognize that the company is just getting off the ground with their production. In fact, I think Keith's machine is the first Stinger II off the line and mine is the second.

To be honest, one of the principle reasons that I bought my Stinger II is that I recognized the quality coming from a relatively small operation with a lot of individual ownership and committment to customer service. I recognized from the beginning that I was not buying a machine that was coming over in container loads every month from Asia into an impersonal US distribution system. This is a custom machine (at least with my modifications) and I understand it will take a while. When it comes, I expect I will be very satisfied as someone is really putting their heart, soul and company reputation into the mix.

I had a similar experience last year when I purchased a Felder combo machine. Although Felder is a bigger and more impersonal company that has been around a while, the rep was pretty clear on estimating a 3 to 3.5 month wait. The wait was painful but the machine came in around 4 months and I have been completely satisfied. Nothing was misrepresented. If the Felder rep had told me it would be 2 weeks and it turned out to be 4 months, I'd have been livid but that wasn't how it went down.

Bottom line is that I don't think there is a universal "ship within" time window for a machine purchase. As long as the manufacturer is honest about the anticipated wait and gets the job done within an acceptable error rate, that seems ok with me.

Now ultimately, if Camaster wants to really take advantage of their market position and harvest all the potential customers clamoring for their products, they are likely to need to speed up turnaround. I imagine there are production shops that simply can't wait months for a CNC router. I for one, however, would rather wait a bit than have to accept poorer quality control, etc. Hopefully that is not the natural outcome of getting a lot busier for every business....

Best wishes,

Richard

[Guy Mathews]

"good, fast, or cheap, pick two". That is, a project can be completed quickly, it can be done cheap, and it can be done well, but you need to choose which two of those you want. If you want a good project done quickly, it's gonna be expensive. Fast and cheap? It's gonna suck.

Camaster is good (quality) and cheap (inexpensive) when compared to similar products on the market.

Be patient! It's worth the wait.

[Mike Package]

Very true, but your external customer HAS paid. So saying it's not a paying customer is not completely accurate. Keith paid.

Also, a Paying customer ordered first part of June and they still don't have their machine. That's 4 months for a paying customer. What chance does Dan have if "paying" customers take 4 months?

Since I'm a paying customer from June, my $.02:

Camaster has been pretty good about communicating delays. At least one was a supplier delay. All things considered, I don't have any complaints with how it has been handled to date. Since it's my money, isn't that the important thing?

Also, raise your hand if you've never missed a deadline, never had a delivery date slip? Anybody?