mazak big bore lathe questions

[cherokeechief79]

we need to purchace a large lathe to replace 2 of our older machines very soon.this will require a spindle bore of at least 5 inches.several of us have been doing research on whats out there.we all agreed that mori was at the top of the list even though some have never used one.recently we had mazak come in and now it looks like we are leaning towards the mazak.what we are interested in is the nexus 450 series.the spindle bore is nearly 2 inches larger than the mori we were considering.i think this is because it has an "integral"spindle motor which i think is bacause the spindle is actually part of the motor.this machine uses grease packs instead of waylube which i thought was great on a makino i used to run.im not to crazy about the mazatrol but some of the guys here know it and it seems to also take g code programs programmed offline too.
several of the features that have swayed us towards the mazak is the large bore ,and the fact that we could probobly afford live tooling on it(although definately no y axis)the tailstock is also a concern with the heavy parts we will be running through it.
we are not a production shop and most of our parts are prototypes,repairs or small lots.
one thing that we "thought" was a must on a lathe this big was that it had to have box ways.
the nexus series does not have box ways.rather it uses linear guides.i guess this is how they are able to use grease instead of way lube.
they do however make a box way machine but it is assembled in japan.from the literature i have seen this is very well built machine with true box ways.
does anyone have any real world experience with these machines?
any advice or insight is greatly appreciated.
thanks
mark

[Daleb]

We are a production shop and bought a couple of DUALTURN20 Mazak years ago and have purchased many lathes since purchasing the Mazaks and have never considered buying another Mazak. They do not support them. When I call Mazak about a problem, it's a 50% chance the repair man is not going to know how to fix the problem. The repair man then wants me to call Mazak & order the parts, which if the person in parts has any questions I have no answers because I do not know Mazaks parts or where they go on the machine. I have had the same problems with the two machines for years and only get Band-Aid repairs. The repair works for a while and then I will have to call Mazak back in and fix the same problems. We started out using Mazatrol, but have switched to G-code programming. It's more efficient for us to program off line and all are other CNC's are G-code. Mazak resisted when we wanted to quit using Mazatrol, but finally found one person there that was willing to help us with getting the machine to run in G-code.
Daleb

[KenFoulks]

Have you considered a Haas SL-40 with the Big-bore option? Haas has really great service and the SL-40 with big-bore has a 6.5" Spindle bore through the draw tube.

Haas Automation Inc. - CNC - SL-40 - Details - LATHE_SL

[sirsumm]

We have 4 Mazaks in our shop, and have an Integrex coming in the beginning of the year. We have an older 20, a fusion 200, a fusion 350, and a nexus 350. From what I have heard the fusion is a better control (I work in QA and don't get to push buttons anymore). We have no problems hard turning 55rc 300m aerospace steel with them. We can easily hold .0005 tolerence. It seems pretty easy to get support from Mazak on our machines. We are able to get technicians in as needed to work on them.