Just looking for general information.. What companies in your opinion produce the best machines? I'm hoping to take a machinist trade this fall and I'm just interested in what companies are staying on top of the industry with their products.
CNC Mills and Lathes
- Thread starter DirtyWolf
- Start date
Kinda putting the cart in front of the horse, innit?
I mean, you will end up running whatever your employer has, unless you are going to ante up the 100K plus, that it will take to set yourself up with a machine and tooling.
Haas is good value for the money, and makes decent enough parts for most purposes. They give the educational institutions a break so that they can get exposure. A bud was servicing Haas machines, and said that any part they did not have in stock, they could get in a day or two. They tried to keep parts on hand.
I've heard Matsuura makes a solid mill. Fadal. Mazak. Okuma. Whole lotta names out there. Some still in business even.
I run a Milltronics knee mill. It's old, the controller is a 386 computer. That's what it was from the factory. It's kind of flaky. It runs, though. I doubt I'd seriously consider one, unless I lived around the corner from a dealer that could provide at least some support.
Check out the Practical Machinist forum. CNCzone as well. Different machines are aimed at different markets. Everything from a full five axis machining center less than a meter wide, on up to stuff that needs to be installed before the building goes up, is out there, and prices and capability are all over the map.
Cheers
Trev
I mean, you will end up running whatever your employer has, unless you are going to ante up the 100K plus, that it will take to set yourself up with a machine and tooling.
Haas is good value for the money, and makes decent enough parts for most purposes. They give the educational institutions a break so that they can get exposure. A bud was servicing Haas machines, and said that any part they did not have in stock, they could get in a day or two. They tried to keep parts on hand.
I've heard Matsuura makes a solid mill. Fadal. Mazak. Okuma. Whole lotta names out there. Some still in business even.
I run a Milltronics knee mill. It's old, the controller is a 386 computer. That's what it was from the factory. It's kind of flaky. It runs, though. I doubt I'd seriously consider one, unless I lived around the corner from a dealer that could provide at least some support.
Check out the Practical Machinist forum. CNCzone as well. Different machines are aimed at different markets. Everything from a full five axis machining center less than a meter wide, on up to stuff that needs to be installed before the building goes up, is out there, and prices and capability are all over the map.
Cheers
Trev
HAAS is very common and well supported. One shop I know install a moru-seiki.
I know that the Taiwanese Leadwell and now Prodis are well respected and excellent value. Two very large plants I know run old Leadwell machines that have performed very well over the years.
Seems to be some deals out there: http://calgary.en.craigslist.ca/tls/1558826010.html
I know that the Taiwanese Leadwell and now Prodis are well respected and excellent value. Two very large plants I know run old Leadwell machines that have performed very well over the years.
Seems to be some deals out there: http://calgary.en.craigslist.ca/tls/1558826010.html
Haas is far from the best, however they do offer good bang for the buck
I own a small shop and my first machine we bought was a Haas VF-3 and an Okuma lathe. Support is quite good but can be pricey, luckily they are not all that complicated and parts are not far, Haas is based in California. The Okuma parts however, are usually weeks away if you're lucky.
Different manufactures have their pluses and minuses and some make very specialized machines that really perform. The really high end stuff comes from Japan and Europe. I'd love to have Matsuura, Mori-Seiki, Nakamura, DMG, etc on the floor. I'd also like more work coming through the door these days Most of the big names also offer "economy lines" of machines, usually built in China, Taiwan, Korea etc.
I own a small shop and my first machine we bought was a Haas VF-3 and an Okuma lathe. Support is quite good but can be pricey, luckily they are not all that complicated and parts are not far, Haas is based in California. The Okuma parts however, are usually weeks away if you're lucky. Different manufactures have their pluses and minuses and some make very specialized machines that really perform. The really high end stuff comes from Japan and Europe. I'd love to have Matsuura, Mori-Seiki, Nakamura, DMG, etc on the floor. I'd also like more work coming through the door these days
Most of the big names also offer "economy lines" of machines, usually built in China, Taiwan, Korea etc.I' agree with the HAAS route, decent machines, and unless you're planning on starting you're own machining business most of the top end machines can be extremely expensive. machines cost enough anyway after the machine itself, tooling, and measuring equipment to check your work it can add up to quite a bit.
precision_lee
CGN Regular
- Location
- ottawa valley
enshu 's are fast and i love them with a good nikken table......mazak makes a good production machine...runs like a tank....forever
Haas is the Chevy of the machine tool world. They are no where near the best but they are very common and very capable.
We run Haas machines and I love them. They are the most user friendly, easy to use machines I've ever run. The customer support and community knowledge is also way up there and a large part of why they are great.
We run Haas machines and I love them. They are the most user friendly, easy to use machines I've ever run. The customer support and community knowledge is also way up there and a large part of why they are great.
If you know your way around electronics. You can pick up an older machine and remove the old controls and put a DIYone on.
I purchased an older bridgeport series one cnc and did that.
Lots of info on the net on how its done.
Basically you need a 1ghz PC, breakout board, DC power supply, 3 motor controller cards, software Mach3, use the original motors and limit switches.
That is basically my setup and works great.
DIY is not for everyone and does take some time to put together. One pro is you don't need a repair man for the control because it is you.
One other think to look at is. Can you run the machine manually? For some applications a manual mill is quicker.
Stephen
I purchased an older bridgeport series one cnc and did that.
Lots of info on the net on how its done.
Basically you need a 1ghz PC, breakout board, DC power supply, 3 motor controller cards, software Mach3, use the original motors and limit switches.
That is basically my setup and works great.
DIY is not for everyone and does take some time to put together. One pro is you don't need a repair man for the control because it is you.
One other think to look at is. Can you run the machine manually? For some applications a manual mill is quicker.
Stephen
I took the original post to mean that he was lining up on a trade course or machining course, rather than that he was looking to buy a machine.
All the machine companies out there stay current with the technology that is available, but machine tools have pretty long lives, so there are a lot of very useful machines out there making money, that were made by companies that are no longer in existence for one reason or another. On the other hand, outside the world of specialist machines, progress sometimes moves slowly, in favor of ease of service, standardized parts stores, and the like.
There are also a lot of machines out there that many have never heard of, because they do not work in a particular field, like, say, surgical implant parts, or similar fields where the machines are usually very small, the materials very expensive, and the parts are rarely the same from one day to the next.
Most of the machine tool names that people 'know' are names of companies that make general purpose machines suitable for wide range applications. Some of the neatest things I see (usually by accident) are machines that are built for some purpose or another that has been mentioned in a conversation in a not very near related field.
Too much info out there to stay on top of! Learn some interesting things trying, though!
Cheers
Trev
All the machine companies out there stay current with the technology that is available, but machine tools have pretty long lives, so there are a lot of very useful machines out there making money, that were made by companies that are no longer in existence for one reason or another. On the other hand, outside the world of specialist machines, progress sometimes moves slowly, in favor of ease of service, standardized parts stores, and the like.
There are also a lot of machines out there that many have never heard of, because they do not work in a particular field, like, say, surgical implant parts, or similar fields where the machines are usually very small, the materials very expensive, and the parts are rarely the same from one day to the next.
Most of the machine tool names that people 'know' are names of companies that make general purpose machines suitable for wide range applications. Some of the neatest things I see (usually by accident) are machines that are built for some purpose or another that has been mentioned in a conversation in a not very near related field.
Too much info out there to stay on top of! Learn some interesting things trying, though!
Cheers
Trev
