We are looking at a Makino V22 and a Micron HSM400 to do hard milling.
The material will be tool steel at 58 Rc with depth of cut about .100 max. Average cutter size will be about 1/4 to 3/8 with some 1/16 cutters.

Micron says their mill is a 1+G machine and the Makino is only a .5 g machine.
The base material on the Micron is a more stable material than cast iron which is what the Makino is made of.

I would like some opinions from users of these particular models, what are your likes and dislikes.

Thanks for any help.
Jgallant

Some good advice is that you purchase the advanced motion control options your builder offers. Wether is is the AI Nano or HPCC or Super GI (I think in the case of Makino). We have found significant improvement to accuracy, and also improved tool life because of smoother motion control. Well worth the minimal extra cost.

You're talking about some very expensive machines there...

Hello
We are now considering a Roku Roku also, Any opinions on this machine manufacturer.

The salesmen is telling us that the Makino high speed (40000) spindles are not lasting, he said shops are only getting about 15 months of use before they fail.

My Uncle has a larger Makino maybe 6a old, and has never had a problem.
He bought a V22 last year and has had problems.
40k spindle had to be replaced before he even started production and there were other setup and board issues.
No problems since.
He does hard mill only on the Makinos.

We are looking for a shop in the New England area that we can personally see the machines in use and talk to the people using them on a daily basis. If you know of a shop that has Makino's or Roku Roku's that wouldn't mind some visitors, let me know.

Thanks

Mikron's have some issues. We have been thru 4 spindles, 3 chip conveyers, and now Y axis has a serious vibration issue. Their service is no more than adequate. Been waiting 2 weeks to get Y axis fixed. To the machines credit, it is blistering fast. If you are cutting alot of small detail where the machine is constantly accelerating and decelerating, you will have a hard time beating it. The accel on the HSM400 is 1g in each axis or 1.7g when all three move 1 inch at the same time.

Mikron is not the greatest machine to do hard machining on. For hard milling Yasda is the best out there. Yasda's are expencive but you will not regret the product that you get out of it. If those are out of your price range then I would go with Mikino or Roku Roku. I run Yasda's and I would put that machine up against any machine out there. I have been running Yasda's for about 4 years and never had a problem. I can turn the machine off and two weeks later start it back up and continue to hold two tenths tolerance all day and night.

yea amm wtf, you get to order a machine to do hard milling? what are you paris hilton? for the rest of us low lifes we have to make do with iskar 9030 inserts (brand?) and we do pretty well ty, granted 62 Rc is tough, anything under is better, and we are using average to below average mills. so im angry that you have it so well. that your bosses ask so little of you

I would never buy a mikron, it is the most unreliable machine ever built.

Another mill to look at would be a Sodick MC430L or a MC650. I was in a shop last week that just ordered a Roku Roku and it seemed like just an everyday HSM. I havent heard of anything bad about them other than the basic dont slam the spindle and that can go without saying for anything that has a spindle of 40k or more.

I know that if you are into linear technology you should look at the sodick mills cause that is the standard with the company. No ballscrew design with THK rails and multi linear motor per axis (4 on the X aixs alone). Machine comes standard with chillers to all the axis and to the spindle. I havent heard or any machine "wearing out" in 15 months by normal use but it is the salesman job to make everyone else to look like a steaming pile and theres to shine through the pitch black.

Here is a link to some info on the machine in case you are interested.
http://www.sodick.com/index.php?t=comparison/products&&category__id=4

Does anybody have any idea where to find a used hsm?