Nomura Swiss NN-13SB (Advice?)

[iQRaj]

I'm looking into buying three 1999 13mm machines for making three relatively simple small parts. We aren't going to be breaking down these machines very often to change setups and what not. What do you guys suggest as far as reliability on running these machines? Gosiger seems willing to service these machines for us. We are getting a great deal on these price wise, so I want to know if it's worth the risk or should we pay a higher price for newer machines.

Any input will be helpful guys, thanks!

[metalmachinery]

what are you considering to a "great deal" on these? Price?

[iQRaj]

Three identical machines with three identical magazine bar feeders, installed for $45,000.

The machines are currently running production parts. And there will be some kind of inspection done. I was more worried about the Nomura brand and reputation for reliability. We have good support lined up for the machines. What about the actual machines themselves? Good experience/Bad experience? More failure rates compared to other brands of swiss?

[Brian-Gilliam]

What kind of coolant are you planning on running? We exclusively run Stainless and Titanium and run oil in our machines and in the 3 years that we had our nomura's I had to replace guide bushing belts too numerous to count and ultimately had to have custom belts made. I also had to replace two power supply cards, a sub-spindle encoder, and two spindle driver cards. IMO Nomuras are put together like IKEA furniture. They work for simple things, but are not very durable. I should, however, say that I am spoiled and biased due to trading our nomuas in for Citizens. After running a citizen for a week, the nomuras just felt like toys.

[iQRaj]

It would be strictly stainless steel with oil coolant. I kind of got that feeling, but if we are only running the lights out of 1 part on a machine, do you think we will have the same problems?

[Brian-Gilliam]

Your mileage may vary. We had 2 nomuras. An NN20UB and an NN16BIII and aside from the guide bushing belts, we also replaced a few main, and sub-spindle belts and well as Y axis drive belts. I do know people that are quite happy with theirs and at that price, it would be hard to pass. You should be comfortable digging in to these machines and shouldn't be shy about taking covers off and troubleshooting problems yourself.

[iQRaj]

I appreciate you giving your opinion on this. We are pretty good at doing our own trouble shooting, but I just don't want to have to worry about shutting down production runs because parts keep leaving tolerance. We are trying to hold .001-.0005 type tolerances on some parts. Albeit the parts are extremely simple.

Out of curiosity, how much was it to fix those belt problems?

[PixMan]

Nomura has changed distribution (and therefore, support) in the USA more times than I changed my socks. They have a decent machine, but if you need help you are then chasing around a lot. If Gosinger has promised support, hold them to it: Put it in writing.