big hurco vmc

[steamer]

Hi ,
anybody have any experience with the new to uk "vmx 60 " vmc ? , quite interested in buying one with 40 taper & 24 station atc ,we know the winmax controller has been out in the states for some 2 years - what do folks think of it ? could do with some feed back please.
thanks .

[forrey45]

I do not like the winmax at all, think it is a wast of money and time. I only use the ISNC on the controls.
Forrey

[Rally]

The Winmax is great!! But I guess it all depends on what your doing!

[cnc@52]

Steamer,

Did you buy the VMC60 and if so how do you like it? Looking at it as well.

[steamer]

reply to cnc 52,

Hi ,
our machine due on tuesday next week , a little peeved that we are not getting the winmax system straight away , don't think hurco uk got their act together yet , a bit dubious about having to learn the ultimax system & then winmax after - yet to be convinced ( anybody else with this experience - pm me if req'd ) .
Having said that the vmx 60 stands out against the rest in capacities , power etc , & we are looking forward to its arrival , will keep all posted !!.
Steamer

[cnc@52]

Did you get 40 or 50 taper? Why did you choose the taper that you did?

[steamer]

we went for the 40 taper , suits our needs a lot better , think if you went for thr ht version & really chomping it off then maybe 50 , then again it also has a bearing on whether you've got laods of tooling around - for us its a fresh start .
regards
Richard

[Rally]

Have you learned how to run it yet? Do you like the Machine? We have had loads of problems with ours! VMX64 but some of that may also be do to the fact that we have a 50 taper machine and our supervisor thinks that if the floor don't shake the Machine is not beeing used. LOL

[emmjess]

We've had our vmx 60 for about a month now. Absolutely love it. Plenty of power, faster tool changes etc.. Winmax is nice, but tends to lock up when you get used to the control and can start flying around the keyboard. Unless you really need the added features, I'd stay with the good ol' standard. But, like I said, the machine itself is a beast and would recommend it to anyone.

[Rally]

I’m sort of surprised to hear you say that! We purchased the VMX 64 when it first came out and I have to say that the Machine has been a pain in the neck. It seems to be down more than it is running.

We have 2 Hurco’s here in our shop and I must say that that the programming “to me” seems a bit simpler than what I have done on other machines. By far the best Machine we have “looking at it pound for pound” is the BMC-20 we purchased new in 1992 the Machine is still going strong and produces accurate Parts with almost no glitches at all.
You say that the Computer locks up?? I would bring that to someone’s attention it should not do that no matter what. We had a similar problem at one point and the tech told us that our power was dirty. They ended up doing something but I don’t know what.

[glovebox20]

Originally Posted by Rally I’m sort of surprised to hear you say that! We purchased the VMX 64 when it first came out and I have to say that the Machine has been a pain in the neck. It seems to be down more than it is running. By far the best Machine we have “looking at it pound for pound” is the BMC-20 we purchased new in 1992 the Machine is still going strong and produces accurate Parts with almost no glitches at all. You say that the Computer locks up?? I would bring that to someone’s attention it should not do that no matter what.

Hello, I know I'm getting off topic but my shop has 11 Hurco mills ranging from a BMC 30 to HTX 500. Far as coumputer locks up's are concered. The older Ulimax 3 controls a much better. If you ask me, Hurco took a few steps backwards with the Ulimax 4.

You can be running a program and editing another one at the same time all day long and not run into any issuses except for a few pauses with the Ulimax 3. But when pulling that stunt with a Ulimax 4 control. Wacth out!! Ever time it dose a tool change, it locks up and you have to shut it down and restart it. Sometimes the lights will turn off in the machine while backround editing and it completes the tool path for that tool and automicaly shuntsdown and restats itself. But the wores part is, when it powers back up, you've lost your "running" program and the part program you were editing is only saved until your last automitc save point. Talk about not saving time. I ask a Hurco tec about this when I was at Hurco's open house at there headqauters and he replies "Do not use the backround editing option on the control because of the pointenal for crashes. Can I interst you in a PC version of Winmax so you can make promgrams while the machine is running". Needless to say I was P.O. about this remaked because while I was there I was looking at the poster on the walls about the Ulimax control and one of ther strengths list was backround editing but the Hurco tec was advising me not to do it because for the pontenal for crashes, machine or software.

If I'm doing a family of parts, I can easily get 3x more done on a older 1997 BMC 30 Hurco than a newer 2005 VMX 30 or 42. I can do this by effectily backround editing on the Ulimax 3 and have the next program ready or close to ready by the time the part in the machine done running, all from one machine, unlike the Ulimax 4 control. Hurco's, it's a love/hate relationsonship in my opion. Love them cause there quick and easy to set up and program, hate them because the quailty of the machines arent' what I would like to see.

I haved used backround editing on a Fanuc 16M control and It was sweet. It was like the control didn't relize It was doing two differnt things. You can edit programs just as soomthly when is was runing a program or not. Sorry about being a little long winded, thats probly more info that what most poeple wanted to know, but it feels good to get some steam off my chest.

[jetski]

I do not think winmax is worth the extra money. Still not 3D (true 3D) 2.5 D at best. I would take the money for the upgrade and spend it on Mastercam and get any post you want and any 3D shape you can imagine. Winmax...A pretty picture of the same software for extra cash.