What's the differecne?

I'm sure someone can answer a question I was trying to figure out since no one at my shop could give me a difinitive answerof what the difference was between a Horiz. biring mill and a Horiz. Mach center.

The only thing I could come up with is that the Head or "Z" moves on a horiz. mach(which are thew kind we run)
and on a boring mill I guess the "Z" is stable and the table moes as the z
Any input would be app.

regards,
J

I think it's just a size difference. The head moves on HBMs as well. An HMC is often enclosed and designed more for high production work with pallet/tombstone systems, whereas an HBM is often open and designed to machine bigass parts. I think HBMs can be used with pallets as well but they're huge.

HBM

My understanding is that "machining center" refers to a machine with an Automatic Tool Changer (ATC).

As for "boring mill" or "boring bar mill" perhaps it means having the saddle move in Z and having a quill move in Z. Can someone verify this?

I think a lot of this has been confused over the years... to the point that no one is really sure of what is what anymore.

On old HBMs I've programmed, the difference was the Z feed axis. Even though HBMs have a Z axis, they all had a quill (Z in the spindle), HMCs did not (although there are some that do.. but few). Another thing was that HBMs didn't have a B axis.... although many could be adapted to them or "optioned" for.

So what's really the difference? Hard to say since what an HBM can have, an HMC can have... and visa versa.....

Thanks all for the input.
The reason I ask is our company is purchasing a OKK HM1250s With a 66" X, 55" Y, and 48" Z.
Would this be considered a boring mill. I know theres bigger machines, I think i've seen Bigger Manual HBm's, But this is Pretty big for us and we do Some big S**t!
Just Wondering.
Thanks Again

The HM1250 would be considered a HMC, not a boring mill.

I've heard some good things about these but no personal experience with them. One thing I do know about OKK stuff though.... OPTIONS. They've got tons of them. Many of them I think should've been standard equipment on machines of this size and capacity. Make sure you guys check into them and get all of the stuff you need. Don't assume anything because with OKK, it won't be there. And I mean check into everything... chip disposal, coolant options (including overheads), chip screws/conveyor (inside and outside the machine), spindle types, software, chillers, .... you name it.

And yes.... there are much bigger HMCs out there....

Have fun with it!

PS: I'm assuming you're buying new.... if used, definately check into everything....

SNK hater? Bad experience with a Shin Nippon Koki mill?

To 706jim,
Plenty of bad experiences. I run 3 PC55V's And a 65V and do a lot of sizing on them. we run planetaries with as low as .ooo5 on Bore size( not a problem) and Position(Chordals are alwasys a pain in the ass)and I pull semi's on every pc to make sure the Bores are within tolerance b4 sizing them and they change about a thou or more sometimes on the chords and distances across. They claim to Have .0002 repeatability. BS
our comp. has had them for a bout 10 yrs.now and I guess they never were very good when they were newer.

to psycho,
Yes, we are getting it brand new. But my comp. is very cheap and will try to just get what they need to do the job they wanto acquire. we are actually getting 2 of them a HM1000s at the end of this month and the 1250s is comming in sept.
Our president actually sh*t himself when he found out that the hp coolant sys. costs $13,400.

Our president actually sh*t himself when he found out that the hp coolant sys. costs $13,400.

Click to expand...

R U kiddin' me???!!!!!

You ain't kidding... what a cheapo company/president. $13k for hp coolant is nothing. As a matter of fact, its right around average pricing (maybe just a tad high) for a factory installed unit (if its a 1000 psi type).

But my comp. is very cheap and will try to just get what they need to do the job they wanto acquire.

Click to expand...

They have no idea how much they're gonna pay for mistake this in the long run. Things like HP coolant, probes, software upgrades (look ahead functions, memory, etc), .... are more often than not, things you go ahead and get. Retrofitting after costs more money PLUS downtime on the machine, PLUS lost revenues associated with it. You may not "need" certain things for this job, ... but you don't want to be without it when you do need it.

The president isn't just being cheap... he's being cheap and foolish. No, I'm not saying you need to order a machine with every single option checked off. But you need to consider each option for its value.... immediate or potential. I suppose you're getting the smallest tool magazine you can get away with too right? You're getting 4 large capacity machines but the pres. balks at the coolant....

Good luck with that SNKHater.... I feel for you..

axis "w"
the spindle moves indipendant for deep boring
boring mill