Quandry

Group:
This morning I got some bad news and it has put me in a bit of a
quandary. As I mentioned in a post to Ballendo, I had ordered a MI4848 CNC
router from Liberty Enterprises last June. I was promised 8 to 10 weeks
delivery. After a few delays I was told a tornado ripped through town in
the last week in June but the shop was spared. A number of trees in the
area were damaged, however and this included one just outside the Liberty
shop. The city hired a private contractor to remove the damaged trees and
-- you guessed it! He dropped the tree on the shop and damaged some of the
parts for my machine. Specifically, the hardened shafts for the gantry.
The Owner, Charles told me he was going to redesign the machine for 2001
anyway and that he would provide me with the newly restyled gantry using
aluminum extrusions instead of shafts and bearings and that I should expect
my machine by the first or second week in Sept.
Rains, I was told, prevented the trucking company from picking up the
machine until earlier this month but it (and a couple of others) were all
shipped last week. Hooray! (I thought)
This morning I called and asked if everything was OK and Charles told me
he was going to call me. He had just returned from Louisville, KY where he
was attempting to inspect the remains of all of the machines he had
shipped. Seems the semi rolled over and the insurance co. won't let him or
anyone else near them until the finish with their investigation - maybe
Wednesday.
I guess this means another 12 to 15 weeks since mine wasn't the only
machine he was building.
Now my quandary: Do I wait and hope to see my machine this year? Or do
I try to find another? Or do I try to build my own from scratch? I have
done some machine assembly in the past, but I do not have anything but
woodworking machinery. I can't find another one as inexpensive with the
same size and features as the Liberty and I am very satisfied with the
software albeit not having had it tied into a machine. I am perfectly
satisfied to pay him for the software and hope it is compatible with a
future purchase of another mfgr.
I did intend to build my own but NOT YET! But maybe providence is
forcing my hand.
So I turn to you, who have already built CNC Machines for guidance. I
guess what scares me the most is reading all of your posts on the problems
you have had or are having. Am I ready to take the plunge?
Sorry for using up so much bandwidth. I guess I needed a place to vent
my frustration and disappointment but I really do need advise.

Hugh