$20 million for....boxes?

[UpScope]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Grob-In-Line-Transfer-Machine-Line-for-V6-Cyl-Heads_W0QQitemZ190056526042QQihZ009QQcategoryZ1258 4QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item190056526042

A guy asks for $20,000,000 for a "Grob" machine that has never been used and then posts a picture of unopened boxes!

Oh, excuse me, seaworthy crates.

[Keith Wilson]

I have some experience with this kind of automation equipment, and I don't see anything that makes me think it's not legit. It's kind of stupid to post pictures of boxes, although if it was crated for overseas shipment then putting it back together to take photos would be a LOT of work. The details of the description (see the quote below) correspond to what would be used on a machining line of this type, as does his ballpark for the replacement cost. I presume that anyone who would buy equipment like this would go look at it very carefully. I wonder what the history of the thing is; who it was built for originally and why it's been sitting in the crates for so long?


* Star linear rail ways.
* Nematron PC Based controls. (corrected his typo)
* Marposs gauging units.
* Indramat servo drives and motors.
* Lift and carry transfer system.
* Guhring HSK Hyd. Tool Holders.

[Henning 4148]

Well, that would be a question for Kath: Who in US automotive had planned to machine V6 heads in the south west of the US (Arizona or close to Arizona as you wouldn't want to ship the boxes too far overland if avoidable) from 1999 or 2000 onwards and didn't pull through (some new strategy, restructuring or whatever)?

Who has or had an engine plant down there or had planned on opening one?

Must have been pretty well thought out initially as even the cutting tools are included, so the equipment must have been built for a specific design ... There must have been head drawings on the desk when the stuff was ordered. And at the value concerned, it must have caused a bit of a stink when the stuff arrived as ordered and was never put to use. Somebody will have had to foot the bill.

I am pretty sure, that full spec's of the line will be made available on request. Now, the other question: Do I need a V6 head line, even if it's cheap? No, not really. A very small market. Including suppliers, I would guess around or below 100 players worldwide. Why put it on E-bay? Perhaps to attract those players in remote areas that nobody knows of? Located in deepest wherever. The well known key players will have been contacted directly long ago. Or to attract customers in difficult to access areas who might be interested in converting the line for other usage. High precision high volume machining of ... .

[Keith Wilson]

It might not have been intended for the US at all. That elaborate crating wouldn't have been necessary unless they planned to ship overseas - or OTOH, they had already shipped it from Germany to the US. Here's Grob's website; they're a German company but have a plant in Ohio and one in Sao Paolo, as well as Germany. I'd guess it was built at the Ohio plant and was going to ship to Asia somewhere when the economy got weird there in the late '90s , but I'm only guessing. It seems strange to put it on eBay.

http://www.grobsystems.com/en/_grob.htm

[Henning 4148]

I guess ebay is just one or two steps before taking apart / salvaging for "spares" and selling the rest for scrap. And I would also guess, that with an offer on ebay, people who are generally interested in high precision machining and could convert the line for other products are "invited" to take an interest.

If you're not into machining cylinderheads, you still get a big package of high precision CNC controlled machining axis with transport in between and with a fair bit of engineering, converting and fiddling, you suddenly have a high volume machining line for ... nearly whatever you want up to the size of a cylinder head. Or two smaller machining lines. Or ... . A line, that can machine cylinder heads can probably be converted to machine callipers (right word?) for disk brakes, small engine or gearbox housings, drums for revolvers or some sophisticated ammunition parts or ... . It can be a lot of work and probably wouldn't be economic in the western world, but in other areas of the globe, it might well make sense ...

[Keith Wilson]

but in other areas of the globe, it might well make sense ...And it's already crated for shipment. ;)

[The Bigfella]

and it can be reconfigured .........

says he thinking about making runs of alloy heads to replace all those warped ones out there and extend the life of a lot of cars ......

[George Roberts]

The machines are almost 10 years old. Long time in the CNC business.