If you were running a small machine shop business and wanted to upgade from a CNC turret mill to a VMC to gain higher speeds, greater accuracy and auto tool change etc, would you choose a new or second hand machine.

In this scenario money itself is not the issue. You do have the money to buy a new machine. The question is, is it a cost effective decision?

You could probably buy two - three second hand VMCs for the same price as a single new one costing £30,000. Or just buy one and save the rest of the money for repairs.

The new one on the other hand has no wear, and a warrenty against failure and probably slightly faster with better controls.

I'd be very interested to hear your opinions on which option you would take and why.

I have read a few stories here on the Zone of people having some serious problems with new machines and dealers were not too quick to fix the problem. The used ones might have most of the problems fixed :idea:

I was in the autobody repair business since I started walking, we only bought wreaked cars and fixed them for our family to drive. Out of 45+ different cars we had only two that gave us problems and they both were "Chrysler" I wil never buy another "C" ! Never any car payments even if I had to fix something, still came out on top after selling it. Just a idea.

A lot rests on your tolerance for risk and ability to repair things yourself. Having two or three running VMCs is better than one running VMC. Having too much down time for any machine is frustrating at best and potentially disastrous at worst.

A new machine makes sense if there is a company to stand behind the warranty with parts and a dealer who will reliably service the machine. It also makes sense when you can be making money elsewhere in your shop while the service guy is repairing your new machine.

With used equipment, a known history is the best case. Ensure that the manufacturer is still supporting it with parts and tech help via phones. If you have to devote a lot of your own time to service, this may keep you from making money actually making parts.