I'm considering purchasing Daewoo - Doosan

[Ken Czys]

We are considering purchasing our first Daewoo Puma Gantry Lathe. Does anyone have any positive or negative experience with their machines?

[ragman]

Earlier machines (pre1995) were a bit problematic. The later ones are much better. They sometimes have little problems here and there (we've had trouble with hyd pressure switches, coolant pumps and sometimes tool measurers sticking. Overall they are a good buy. They seem to be built stronger than some of the Japanese machines. Of course you can still get a bad one like with anything. Would be hard to go past one (for a middle range machine) in my opinion. There are better and there are worse around.

[WeirDave]

Hi, we have 2 Puma 230 MSB's, a Puma 2000SY and an ACE V430 VMC. All very good machines in my opinion!

[phx]

Originally Posted by Ken Czys We are considering purchasing our first Daewoo Puma Gantry Lathe. Does anyone have any positive or negative experience with their machines?

Hi Ken

i have a Puma 2500y, since a half year, works fine,
if u can live with the Fanuc Control, and the direktTooling turret(non VDI)
it schould be a good deal.

greets

[CNCRim]

They are the great bang for the buck machine, go for it.

[daewooevc]

What part of the country are you in?

[STS_John]

We have 3 Daewoo / Doosan mill-turn centers. 2500LSY, 2500SY, and 2000SY

My sentiments are very close to the comments above.

Good bang for the buck, compared to Mori Sieki or Nokamura Tomi. The lathes seem to be very strong mechanically, and we are happy with the Fanuc controller.

Negative Side: Our experience (our machines are 1 year to 3 years old) is Daewoo really skimped on quality in peripheral devices. Hyd and proximity switches have been a nightmare. We had one proximity switch on parts catcher go bad 3 times in one month. $150.00 each time for a new switch, not to mention loss of production. I understand Doosan is addressing this problem, and lately switches we have replaced have been upgraded. All three lathes have had either coolant pumps or skimmer units replaced, mostly on warranty.

I am out of warranty now, and I am not looking forward to the bills from the less than quality components failing on a regular basis this year.

If I were to buy another similar lathe (and I would buy Doosan again), I would negotiate an extended warranty on coolant pumps, skimmer units, and switches (both hydraulic and proximity). I might even demand extra switches be suppled to keep at the shop. We have become quite proficient in replacing the switches, they have failed that often on all 3 machines. Having the replacement switches in house could reduce downtime when a failure occurs, they are not difficult to replace

In my opinion the units are good investments, I hope Doosan is considering upgrading the areas which cause the problems above. I would gladly pay an extra $5K more for the machine to have better quality components. If the switches, pumps, and skimmers were better quality, then I believe the Doosan mill-turn centers would possibly be the best investment in the market.