What would you do ? Not the TV show!

Aciera wrote: At the moment i am desperate for money, not for work. I invested everything ( as i usually do ) on the machines i have built and decided not to sell them, so i am in a bit of a pickle, but not nearly desperate enough to go that route.

my two cents of experience: .... I was the automation vendor for 10 years, before then I was the small builder for 10 years .... after these 20 years of work I opened a startup. What did I learn in the first 20 years of work? I learned that if you accept a problematic job just because you are desperate in the end you will find yourself with experience that you paid with your sweat without sleeping at night, a customer certainly unhappy and what is worse with the bank account in red .... so I learned that if you have no pictorial work than to take bad jobs and better go to the sea or to the mountains to relax ... at the cost of staying on an empty stomach. Anyway, it's better than being in the red at the bank don't you think?

regards good luck and I hope you are wise and go to the beach to relax.
bkt

Aciera wrote: Just to be sure, it's the tables from this thread?
forum.linuxcnc.org/show-your-stuff/38547...-5m-cnc-plasma-build

Are they finished now or if not what is still missing?

Yes they are, and the only thing missing is the cutting tables.
It takes about 3 to4 days to finish a cutting table, but transporting the table will raise the cost quite a bit, it is heavy and big.
Without the table, the whole machine can be packed on a 3.5X1X1 meter crate. Assembly would require putting back 7 screws and two connectors.

bkt wrote: my two cents of experience: .... I was the automation vendor for 10 years, before then I was the small builder for 10 years .... after these 20 years of work I opened a startup. What did I learn in the first 20 years of work? I learned that if you accept a problematic job just because you are desperate in the end you will find yourself with experience that you paid with your sweat without sleeping at night, a customer certainly unhappy and what is worse with the bank account in red .... so I learned that if you have no pictorial work than to take bad jobs and better go to the sea or to the mountains to relax ... at the cost of staying on an empty stomach. Anyway, it's better than being in the red at the bank don't you think?
regards good luck and I hope you are wise and go to the beach to relax.
bkt

Very nicely said, thank you BKT.
I have been down that road once, not going again for sure. I asked this just to check my sanity, being closed due to pandemics and stuff !
Frankly i am overwhelmed by the replies and advices i got back, thank you, all.

no worry .... not understand are you the owner of question, because I've read only some reply not entire post .... I remember very well that you have enough experience to make these decisions .... however when it comes to testing your sanity (as you say) .... many voices dissuade better than just a few voices from making follies.

Now I have set up this new work adventure .... so that I don't have time ... but I would like to come and visit you by motorbike at one time or another .... I have never visited your country ... maybe in two years.

regards
bkt

bkt wrote: no worry .... not understand are you the owner of question,

Yes i am.

bkt wrote: I remember very well that you have enough experience to make these decisions .... however when it comes to testing your sanity (as you say) .... many voices dissuade better than just a few voices from making follies.

Yes i do, but i did make one such mistake once, did not want to make it again.

bkt wrote: Now I have set up this new work adventure .... so that I don't have time ... but I would like to come and visit you by motorbike at one time or another .... I have never visited your country ... maybe in two years.

You are welcomed any time. I still wonder why tourist love this place, must be that i am used to it. BTW over 70% of tourist visiting here are on motorbikes.

Tommy,
I've heard from the guy and he isn't coming up your way, he's taking the ferry directly to italy. What's more is he doesn't think he has the space to set it up yet.
I would buy the smaller one but sadly I don't have any space to put it either. Space here does not come cheap.
So I'm sorry I could not be of more help to you.

No worries, thank you for everything.

I would quote him a reasonable price for half the job and request hourly wage at your discretion.
Write a contract and protect yourself with hidden issues like: parts, pieces not working etc. Proprietary software in plc's if you don't have access will be extra if you have to redo it with reliable cheap plc new tech type inexpensive.

You have to take the responsibility off yourself if it will not work because of proprietary software or existing equipment failures etc....

If they want that machine bad enough which I think they do since they spent 350K???, then great, otherwise send them to your competitor....

just my 2 cents,

I did a job for a customer that I made them sign a waiver that I wasn't responsible for any existing equipment or software or the machine being operative in the end.

They wanted it bad enough and they paid. I did get it working in the end, but there was a chance I didn't. Both of us won.

That is exactly what should normally be done, alas, the contracts are not worth their wight in paper here.
Non the less, i will try to do something like that, and if they complain, i will just decline.
Thank you.

If you do end up doing this, please post a thread on it. To retrofit a 28m industrial line with hundreds of actuators and sensors is a hell of a job to do solo.