I just signed up for this site and am looking forward to chatting with fellow cnc addicts. we just ordered an okuma multus and am wondering what the general response to that is. Basically I am looking for any input as to specific things to think about or look for when I am trying to figure it out. I have been running a kia skt15lms for about a year and am nervous/excited about moving up to a machine with a y axis but am a bit unfamiliar with the okuma control. Any constructive input is appreciated.:wee::wee::banana:

cncclimber,
First Welcome...:)
Second, nice get on the Multus..:banana:
I got to look at one cutting last month. Very impressive machine. Also dont forget pictures...lots of pictures :)
Gary

yeah, we are pretty excited, it is showing up today. I am going to try and take some pics for sure. It is funny how once you get your head around multi-axis machines, the kind of work that pops into your head and the amount you can steal/take from other areas of the shop.

Okuma controls are great!!!!
They have two very cool features.
The restart is a Search for N200 then it starts from there.
Mid auto manual awesome feature for pausing the machine during program run without having to reset.
If you need help with programming let me know.
Any one that needs help with programming?
I have 30 yrs in machining, with the last 9 using Surfcam.

we just got the thing powered up yesterday and the tech got it rough leveled and to the point that I can play with it a little bit. I have run almost exclusively fanuc controls and have done a tiny bit with okuma, but wow, what a machine!! I am really excited to get it humming along, but man, I wont even go into how long it took me to figure out how to do a toolchange! I will get there, I am not too worried about that but in the process I still have to be profitable somehow. I have been fully expecting this machine to kick me in the nuts, and it certainly is (nuts) . I am going through the 12" stack of manuals right now and will probably be posting more specific questions as time goes on. so thank you in advance for any help. I kind of started this thread hoping to get input from somebody who has a multus and find out if there is any specific common mistakes with them that I will inevitably do that maybe I could avoid. I already fought for a really long time time with the tool change because I apparently pushed a button while the thing was still doing whatever it does and it got lost. (chair) anyway thanks again.

Glad to hear you have a multus !! Is it a 300 or a 400 ?? If I can help you out let me know, and if I don't know I'll find out. Just installed a couple one in greensboro and one in asheville.

it is a 300w. we got a demo that came pretty well equipped, it has renishaw gauging and a 1000psi coolant with a tall chip conveyor. we only got a 40 tool changer but for what we need that should be plenty especially considering it was a 20 something thousand dollar upgrade to the next one(60). it also has the automatic touchsetter and 10,000rpm mill spindle. we also included the parts catcher and the offcenter turning function. I cant say enough how psyched we are about it, I also cant say enough about how scared too death I am of trying to unlearn fanuc and learn okuma since they are so different(g and M code #'s) luckily this thing only has about 50 million m-codes to learn . so far the support from the salesman and okuma has been second to none, this is only the second new machine I have ever personally been involved in choosing/purchasing and am totally impressed by the team :)

has anybody running a multus or macturn on here ever done any hobbing on their machine, I only ask because my boss gets pretty excited about the stuff and when we asked about it the salesman said they had to send an engineering request to japan to get a solution and would get back to us in 6-8 weeks. It seems to me that with all the multus' and macturns out there somebody has to be hobbing and there would be a readily available solution. But what do I know. :confused:

cncclimber,
Did you get some kind of training with the machine? That's one of the selling points they offered me is a day or two of hands on. With that machine I think that would be..should be mandatory. Lots going on with that brute.
Was Greg your salesman? (I am just over the border)
I assume that you are going to program with cad-cam...Did you get the ADMAC Parts software? If so how do you like it? I thought that was a good selling point for their machines.
http://www.okuma.com/products/software/admac/

Pics!! :stickpoke
Gary

we got a week of training and paid for an extra week. we will probably use the first week at once and break up the second over several sessions in the coming months. admac comes with the machine it got lost in the shuffle and is on its way so I haven't actually played with it yet but I would really rather program by hand for a period of time before I get too dependent on software(makes editing and quick programs easier to do/fix) but maybe reality will strike a heavy blow and I will go straight for the crutches LOL! Oh and here are some pics I will get more once I have something to take a pic of, not a lot going on so far.

here is one more pic. Also our salesman was dave, he has been great, going above and beyond call of duty to help us out. I have been more than a little impressed at the helpfulness of everybody at okuma and otherwise with this deal. between great service and a fantastic machine I certainly would recommend an okuma to anybody.:):banana::banana:

cncclimber,
Nice :banana::banana:
I have seen the admac a little bit and it looks like the way to go. I like that the same people that make the control make the software. No communication problems. :cheers:
Looks like you are already doing some turning :) Thanks for the pics!
Gary

we have a free multus forum @ www.theinventionzone.com
feel free to register and check out the free content.
Please make sure to contribute.

We have had a Multus for a year and 6 months very nice machine. Makes very complex parts easy. We had a spine implant that was taking 6 setups on conventional machines. finished in one setup on the multus. I'm using Mastercam X2 to program with.

If you have any questions e-mail me at tzapex@cv-w.com

How goes it Travis my friend? You truly are the Multus guru. Keep in touch and thanks for all the info you so willingly share with all of us.

Things R going well very very busy! our new shop is almost finished. I think the multus will like her new home when she gets there.

sp044 who are U?

hope this doesn't sound like I am being an ass, but how many "multus gurus" are out there. I've run into ken cobb from multus zone and dan walter, he is our local applications/service guy and now trevor. I thought the multus was a fairly new machine. how long have they been out? I had it in my head for some unknown reason they have only been out about 2 years, maybe less. I am just curious how far the reaches of the multus club goes. anyone with any ideas on how many are in the states? according to our service guy we got the 5th one in the utah, idaho, wyoming, montana area. :cheers:

I think I got the first one Hartwig west installed. I've had mine since november 06! Dan and Ken are class act guys also Randy Jokerest is supersharp he helped me a ton when I was setting up a very tough spine implant on the Multus. I dont consider myself a multus guru but I am willing to help anyone anyway that I can

They are every where // I know of at least 7 in Ga. and just put one in for NASA out @ Langley, Va.
Multus = Macturn without lower turret.

yeah, I should have said 5 multus' in our area and a couple of macturns also. I didn't really inquire about macturns, though I would think due to their much higher price they would be even rarer. sounds to me as though most multus' are in major plants although I know some are in job shops. I consider myself very fortunate to have the opportunity to get to learn to run such an amazing piece of equipment. I am glad to hear that there are more than just a couple of people out there running these things, it really increase the knowledge base, and in theory should help everyone when problems arise, as already has on ours. I was running parts on it yesterday and it ran beautifully all day, inserts and drills were lasting longer than ever and parts looked great, when I went home I put in another piece of stock and left, about 6 parts after I left the main spindle chuck quit opening and the machine sat all night. apparently it has a sticky(stuck) solenoid that controls the chuck and was down all day today. really screwed delivery to one of our best customers, part is supposed to be here tomorrow. Oh well, I guess even okuma has the (hopefully) occasional bad part.

hey, anybody have any thoughts on either edgecam or Pro-E? we are looking to buy a cad/cam package and those seem to be what we have narrowed down to. everybody's demo cd's and literature all show making toolpath form solid models but none seem to show how to draw in their programs I am worried it may be a nightmare. I am thinking about suggesting solidworks to go with the cam program but am also worried that could be overkill. any suggestions? also anyone have any experience with either of these programs on a multus? seems like it may be a challenge for some software. thanks.

I hope this is an O.K. thread to put this in, I posted on the different software threads also, but am interested in experience in stuff for this particular machine.

Sp044 is Ken C. from Multuszone. Hope all is going well Travis. We are SLAMMED over here.