Stinger question

[Brad Knight]

Well, I've been a lurked for years and for years now, I've been trying to sell SWMBO on the idea of a cnc of one sort or another, and I might be really close to closing the deal...

That said, something like the Stinger II looks to be the closest thing to footing the bill - small enough and inexpensive enough to get our feet wet without mortgaging our youngest child, but robust enough to take some somewhat serious work in hopes of actually making some money with the thing.

My question is, what are the dimensions of it shipped and or taken down. I've got room for it, but I don't have an overhead door to bring it in and would have to fit the table through a door.

I'd prefer the II over the smaller stinger because the hope is to make this into something more than a simple hobby and the 36x48 opens up a lot more options.

[Mick A Martin]

Hi Brad,

What is the width of you door opening?

Mick

[Dan Hintz]

I won the original Stinger last year in a raffle, and even though it would have fit if we flipped it on its side, I ended up cutting a hole in the wall (we were all tired!). I don't know if the Stinger II comes off of the legs (Keith Outten can tell you, he has one), but I doubt it, and if that's the case, I don't think it will fit through a door without some serious twisting.

[Brad Knight]

I have a 31" and 32" door - but I can remove the frame and get a couple more inches on either side... I figure the table is at least 36" w/o the gantry, which would take some trickery and maybe a sawzall...

I'm just wondering how much trickery it's going to take... Or if you can remove the gantry at all???

[Steven DeMars]

I would suggest replacing the door @ the location best suited with one wide enough to accommodate the Stinger II. You will wish you had a larger door when you start moving stock in & finish products out . . .

Steve

[Brad Knight]

That's one of our options - we've actually got a smaller door that needs to go away. As far as stock and product - I can cut stock down elsewhere, but the proposed home is a 20x12 room (converted garage) which would fit the 3x4 machine pretty well especially with the smalled cut diwn stock.

[Keith Outten]

Brad,

I own a Stinger II with a 36" by 48" table. The table is 38" wide not counting the bridge. My Stinger has a Recoil lathe on the right side so my dimentions won't help you much as the bridge is made to hang over the right side over the lathe.

The Stinger is definately a robust machine, in fact it is built like a tank. The welded frame adds a lot of weight to the machine but the up side is that it makes it so sturdy you don't have to be concerned with the machine racking or ever getting out of square. You can push the Stinger around to move it on a flat concrete floor without worry. When we set mine down inside my shop door we literally pushed it on its welded feet to the back of my shop. Since then I have had to move it a few inches here and there to get it into position, I can''t move my ShopBot at all without having to adjust everything plumb and square again which can take some time.

My suggestion to you is that you are going to need a double door minimum to get a Stinger II inside your shop or you will need to remove at least one stud on one side of the doorway to get the extra room you need. Whatever you have to do is worth the effort, the Stinger is a fine machine that you can rely on for serious CNC work.

You can buy a ShopBot, most models are basically kits that you bolt together so you can disassemble them and move them piece by piece into a basement, up a stairwell or just about anywhere. Assembling my 48" by 96" PRT Alpha took about two days.

My Stinger II is 36" by 48" because that is the size I need to machine one third sheet of Dupont Corian. I cut the twelve foot long sheets into three pieces which allows me to machine them into ADA door signs efficiently with very little waste. Depending on your project expectations you might need a 48" by 48" table or possibly something smaller....CAMaster can build your Stinger to meet your needs.
.

[Mike Package]

Stinger tabletop owner here. All I'd say (as a previous owner of a lesser machine) is that if you're serious about getting down to business with it, you will very much appreciate the rigidity of the machine and it's worth whatever you have to do to 'get it in the door', even if that means bad news for the door.

[Robert Alexander]

Well, I've been a lurked for years and for years now, I've been trying to sell SWMBO on the idea of a cnc of one sort or another, and I might be really close to closing the deal...

That said, something like the Stinger II looks to be the closest thing to footing the bill - small enough and inexpensive enough to get our feet wet without mortgaging our youngest child, but robust enough to take some somewhat serious work in hopes of actually making some money with the thing.

My question is, what are the dimensions of it shipped and or taken down. I've got room for it, but I don't have an overhead door to bring it in and would have to fit the table through a door.

I'd prefer the II over the smaller stinger because the hope is to make this into something more than a simple hobby and the 36x48 opens up a lot more options.

Brad, you might want to give Joey a call at Camaster. He can give you the advice on your specific needs for a C.N.C. They can build you a custom C.N.C. machine. If you are wanting to do more than a hobby, it would be better to get a larger machine.

[Joey Jarrard]

Brad,
We have put some large machines through some 36" doors. Please see attached pic. The Gantry can be removed and set to the side and the base moved through the door and then put back on. It does make you break a sweat but you will not have to distroy the door.

[james mcgrew]

i laugh every time !!

[Brad Knight]

Thanks guys - Joey, that pic is about what it's going to take, but I've got plenty of muscle available - maybe not mine... We've got a friend who stand about 6'1" and was a semi-professional body builder... And her husband who is bigger than her!!!

As far as size goes - the way I've been looking at it, you can do anything on a 4x8 machine that you could on a 3x4 or 2x3 - but I don't have the room for the 4x8- and the price tag on the stinger is an easier sell. With a little luck, hard work and the ton of brainpower here, I'll be able to pay for this and justify a bigger machine - and the building that would come with it.

SWMBO has a small line of soap that she makes - and you wouldn't believe what some people will pay for molds - which btw corian would be an excellent material for - and we are considering trying to delevope some edge lit acrylic Christmas/ Halloween yard displays that look amazing - in the deepest recesses of my mind right now-

So, we are thinking the same size Keith has would work for small runs - and if they take off like we hope - then upgrading to a bigger machine to full scale runs. At least that's the plan.

Worse case - it'll be an awesome (expensive) hobby machine.

[james mcgrew]

IMG_7781.jpgi stay plenty busy wid mine!!

[Joey Jarrard]

Jim that thing is bigger than I thought. Great job man.

Brad that sounds like a gal I would not want to bump in to in a dark alleyway.

[james mcgrew]

IMG_7901.jpgIMG_7903.jpghere is the final install