Your prefered machine.

[maccar81]

Hello all im new here and was curious to see what most people's preffered machines were. I know there are plenty more out there than what i have listed but i just decided to put a few of the major brands down.

1. Mazak
2. Mori Seki
3. Haas
4. Okuma
5. Daewoo
6. Bridgeport / Hardinge

[Mitsui Seiki]

Mori Seikis are OK. A Mitsui Seiki HMC is my prefered machine though.

[dapoling]

I like the features of the Haas but prefer a Mori Seki for performance and accuracy.

[porsche912]

at work we have mori seiki, haas, enshu, hardinge cnc lathes and mills, the enshus are old and getting replaced with moris, the hardinge gets very little use the moris run 3 shifts 5 days a week, the haas machines are loud slow inaccurate and break down allot, at least the ones in our facilty, the moris a fast and accurate, love them.

[E.T.]

I only have Mori's and Hitachi's in my shop. I want it no other way.

"but them got som smart stripes and stuff on the Fatal and Hass."
- Right......! and that helps where?

T.

[DanSinOhio]

I have a new Haas. For the minor things that needed attention their service was very quick. We also have 2 Johnford VMCs that seem to need a lot of attention. We have an old Warner & Swasey lathe that has been beating out the parts for 20 years or more and an old Toyoda mill that is going on 27. I actually need to replace the latter and was hoping I could get some opinions on these 4 VMCs:

Haas
Mazak
Fadal
Okuma

If anyone has any other machines they would like to include I am all ears.

[E.T.]

Please do not look at those 4 machines at the same time. They do not compare. Decide what you want: Price, Life, speed, AND how is your service in your area. And also look at: Service may be there fast/locally, but you don't really ever want to have a machine down???
I look at Life and parts in the bucket: I would go with Okuma. But you pay more for it than for Fadal and Hass. SO again, what do you want and remember: You can't get it all. Always trade-offs.

Are you buying new or used?

E.T.

[DanSinOhio]

I am buying new. I considered used but the plant manager is leary of adopting someone elses problems.

I am about to meet with the bosses I and planned on telling them something similar to what you said. What do they want, quality or price?

Our Johnfords are local which is convenient but they do seem to require a lot of repair. I had some experience with Mazak a long time ago and I remember those being able to take a beating and keep on repeating.

We don't do intricate work here but we are rough. We use a lot rough castings which causes interrupted cuts on a soft steel.

Thanks for your input.

[bridi precision]

i have used a lot of machines over the years. I like the older Okuma horizontal Machining centers MC500H with OSP 7000 control if I remember right. We ran cast Iron 70% of the time and the machine loved it. I jacked up the oiler timer in the parameters from new to keep the ways wet and try to keep Iron dust out. These machines ran 2 shifts hard 5 1/5 to 6 days a week and are still running after 8 years. We had minor issues like monitor repair or external floppy drive failure. But we never lost anything major. As for service I do it all myself. I found that the local Okuma rep Gosiger mid atlantic did not know the machines to much and they definately did not know anything about the pallet pool system.

I also like Toyota for their rigidity and there longevity. My parent company has many of the older CNC mills and 5 of their horizontals on the floor. My other favorite is Mazak. This was the first mill I worked on and learned programming with. Their Mazatrol language is nice but not that good on a mill.

For Lathes I like Mazak. I have 2 lathes on my floor and 1 mill. Both of the lathes have been trouble free for me in the last 8 years. I also do my own maintenance on these machines. I only use machine tool companies as resources for answers. I have use Hardinge in the past with good luck also.

[maccar81]

Okuma, Haas, Fadal & Mazak hey. I work as a tech for one of the four mentioned companies but ill will keep my answers non bias. I have had good experience in the industry and have a fair knowledge of most (reputable) brands. In order of performance i would put Mazak up the top followed by Okuma then Haas. I personally would not even put Fadal in the same class as the other three. For me though the Haas offers something the other two dont and thats exceptional value for money. While its performance is a litttle lacking compared to the Okuma and Mazak it is really hitting the mark and having comparable prices to these cheap imports. So if money was not an issue and i was able to get whatever i wanted i would choose a Mazak. But as a buisness decision i would choose a Haas.

[bridi precision]

I would say that one issue with Mazak has always been getting service. they are so large and do not have enough techs. So on the east coast area they sub out some of their repairs and installs. This has given them a little bit of a black eye over the years. I have no issue with that since I do all of my own repair work, but others are not as lucky as me.

As for Fadal, Haas, Daewoo and Bridgeport\Hardinge, I would not rate them in the same class as the other big boys. I call this the mid range mill class and would rank them Haas first and then Fadal. I do not know the rest since i have only worked with those 2 machines.


I also think you missed Toyoda in the group. They may have screwed up a couple of years ago trying to build a lathe, but there mills and grinders are top notch CNC's in any ones book.

DanSinOhio,
If you are doing a lot of rough work and big ugly castings I would buy a machine based on that. It would have to be a Cat 50 machine since they are larger tool holders and that also gets you bigger spindle bearings for abuse. I would stay away from linear way since they are not as strong as a large box way machine. I would also look at the size of the machines castings. When I bought my Okuma MC500 H horizontal it out weighed both the Mazak and the Toyoda by almost 1,000 #s. This I like to call the big ass advantage. With a bigger machine and larger castings you can absorb more vibrations and still get a great finish. I also made my own solid steel tombstones out of Freemax Steel and then had a round hole cored out of the middle. This also helps get me a solid connection from part to machine.

[bugzpulverizer]

I have only worked on Haas and Okuma. Okumas seem to be the industry leader around my area (St. Louis). They have one hell of a life span, and you can't beat the repeatability. They have always had one problem, and that is getting rid of chips. I can't believe after all these years they haven't figured that one out. Haas has a good controller on it, and the chip auger works well. We are getting the big Mazak Integrex e-650H II in a couple months, along with a You-Ji VTL, I am anxious to see how they perform.

-Bug-z