:D You are going to love it I am sure!!!

Yep its pretty bad, I'm resisting the urge to take it apart.........sucessfully and I'm equally fascinated with the laser and the precision collet's

Hey Buddy: As much as I can understand the temptation the assembly of these things takes hours because they have to be tuned as per a procedure so that all of the moving parts move effortlessly. As such I would not advise taking it apart....

Did you get a vac pump?

Nice looking machine. What does it do?

Nice looking machine. What does it do?

Just wait until you get a chance to use it - not much of a learning curve (intuitive ease of use was a primary goal of its design), and I'm sure you'll love it even more the more you use it.

As Hesh said, disassembly is not recommended. There's no hidden secrets which can't be appraised from the surface, and reassembly is not a simple process. Even with all the parts precision CNC'd, putting it together demands a very particular order of operations of aligning and torquing each part and screw just right, to ensure that when other parts meet three steps later they do so correctly. The bearings and rails are so tight of tolerance that if the rails are torqued to the base unevenly it won't run as smooth unless assembled and calibrated with great care.

As said though, there shouldn't be any real need to break it down, and my initial prototype has been used and abused for over ten years without loosing any of its precision or needing realignment, so it should keep going and going and going.

The precision collets were an addition to this version, and really proved to be the one missing link I didn't have before. There was always that 2-3 thou runout I couldn't shake, but once I added these to the mix I can finally get that last step toward of perfection that eluded me for so long.

Frankly too we don't see a market with OLFers again because the mill is not unlike a mini PLEK machine in so much as one has to have the volume and commercial applications to justify owning their very own Collins Saddle Mill.

I thought from the picture that this is a machine that shoots lasers and the laser cuts a precise slot into the part...

But I think saddle milling need not be complicated, for years I've milled saddle slots by sticking the bridge to a table and routing it with an edge guide. Stewmac's saddle mill looks very promising especially when paired with Dremel routing base. It's just so expensive...

How about bringing it up to St. Louis on the 18th and joining us at the Gateway Luthiers Show . I Might even have a Guitar it could be used on !

Wow that is a fine looking tool. I like the laser guide and the precision it has. A little more high tech than my combined classical bridge, saddle slot and nut compensation jig.