Thread: mighty comet cnc

looking at a mighty comet vmc who actually makes these machines anyone have anything good or bad to say about these machines?

I don't know anything about them or know anyone that has one but I would like to know what makes you want to go out on a limb and seriously consider anoff brand machine?

Hello,

My neighbor has a couple of them he bought a couple of years ago. They seem to run ok but their servie was not too cool, some of the techs do not speak english. Dollar for dollar head for a Haas.

Landm1

Originally Posted by rickk

looking at a mighty comet vmc who actually makes these machines anyone have anything good or bad to say about these machines?

Well........ I do. Installed several one year and did some of their service work.
The castings and most of the parts are made in Taiwan, assembled in California, thus the name Mighty USA.
Prone to leaking coolant, tool changer issues with the Mitsubishi control and when the spindle bearings go bad, I recommend replacing them with NSK or similar quality bearings rather than OEM.

In later 2006, a dealer had me install a VMC and lathe. They were actually built by two different companies in Taiwan, but called Mighty. When I found that by reading the dataplates, it explained why the operator panels weren't more similar. The VMC was built by She Hong and the lathe by Alex-Tech.

It seemed like the inherent structure of the machines might have been fair, but the QC sure wasn't.

The lathe leaked coolant from the sight-gage on the coolant tank, so I had to empty it, pull the gage and remount it with some sealant.

The VMC had several issues that I had to correct. A couple were inexcusable, I thought. The spindle-cooler alarm came on immediately at power up. I found the alarm circuit wired backward. I also found the cooler tank not filled with oil, which I've never seen on dozens of new machines I've installed. Well, that explained the next problem found. There was a leaking (about 10 drips per min) spindle oil cooler line at the head. The compression-fitting ferrule had been installed backward, so the tapered seat wasn't sealing. There's no way the thing was run at the factory. I had to install a rotary table, and the clamp-unclamp didn't work. There was already a relay in the machine for this task, but I found it wired to the wrong I/O connector. The wiring to the Z-axis brake was pulled out of a crimp connection, so the brake wouldn't release the ballscrew when powered on. In short, the QC was wretched.

Well, after I did all the factory's debugging, it seemed to work OK. I don't know how it would have faired as it got a few years on it, as the guy had it repoed after just a year.

Originally Posted by Kingbob

I don't know anything about them or know anyone that has one but I would like to know what makes you want to go out on a limb and seriously consider anoff brand machine?

1. Perceived value of the equipment?
2. Relationship that exists with distributor/salesperson - maybe one of trust?
3. Right specs at the right price?
4. The fact that this "off brand" has been around for 25 years or so -longer than Brand "H" - albeit having been built in different factories?
5. The fact that the one doing the considering maybe doesn't want to follow the lemmings off the cliff?

The list goes on and on.

Good luck with your research, rickk.

Originally Posted by metaltech

In later 2006, a dealer had me install a VMC and lathe. They were actually built by two different companies in Taiwan, but called Mighty. When I found that by reading the dataplates, it explained why the operator panels weren't more similar. The VMC was built by She Hong and the lathe by Alex-Tech.

It seemed like the inherent structure of the machines might have been fair, but the QC sure wasn't.

The lathe leaked coolant from the sight-gage on the coolant tank, so I had to empty it, pull the gage and remount it with some sealant.

The VMC had several issues that I had to correct. A couple were inexcusable, I thought. The spindle-cooler alarm came on immediately at power up. I found the alarm circuit wired backward. I also found the cooler tank not filled with oil, which I've never seen on dozens of new machines I've installed. Well, that explained the next problem found. There was a leaking (about 10 drips per min) spindle oil cooler line at the head. The compression-fitting ferrule had been installed backward, so the tapered seat wasn't sealing. There's no way the thing was run at the factory. I had to install a rotary table, and the clamp-unclamp didn't work. There was already a relay in the machine for this task, but I found it wired to the wrong I/O connector. The wiring to the Z-axis brake was pulled out of a crimp connection, so the brake wouldn't release the ballscrew when powered on. In short, the QC was wretched.

Well, after I did all the factory's debugging, it seemed to work OK. I don't know how it would have faired as it got a few years on it, as the guy had it repoed after just a year.

Yep, that's them.
Basically the "guts" of the machine is sound probably because the Chinese take a good ole American design like Bridgeport, and reverse engineer it. As a matter of fact they also make a cnc knee mill that is a Bridgeport copy. Those are the ones that I replaced with NSK bearings when OEM failed after one year and a day. (1 year warranty)
But the assembly was poor and QC non existent.
Every service call begins with "Go to diagnostic page" even when simple mechanical problems did not require this.
"We must eliminate other possibilities first"
Not a bad machine if you get the bugs worked out, but light duty.
You get what you pay for.......

We have a VT-15L turning center at school and work, both made by Alex-Tech, but labeled Mighty USA. They both have Fanuc 0i-Mate controllers and have been rock solid performers so far, both mechanically and electrically. Though setting the one up at school was a bit of a headache due to the very poorly written (and I mean HAND written) instruction manual. Pages are out of order and upside down, instructions flat out don't make any sense and are horribly translated from Chinese. Thankfully we've never had any problems with them so we've never had to contact the manufacturer for service.

I'd say the machine is probably solid, though as others have said, don't expect much past that in the way of service.

Originally Posted by ScottAtHurco

1. Perceived value of the equipment?
2. Relationship that exists with distributor/salesperson - maybe one of trust?
3. Right specs at the right price?
4. The fact that this "off brand" has been around for 25 years or so -longer than Brand "H" - albeit having been built in different factories?
5. The fact that the one doing the considering maybe doesn't want to follow the lemmings off the cliff?

The list goes on and on.

Good luck with your research, rickk.

Ohhh the angst of a hurco salesman, lol. I did not to mean to come off sounding like an elitist or haas lemming (I don't like haas). My question was more to the effect of the fact that machine tools are expensive why risk it? I have my issues with haas but at least with them you are garuteed to know personaly a few guys using them. I meant exactly what I asked, what makes mighty comet appealing? I am not asking sarcasticly I am asking because I know nothing about the brand. It would be cool to be the only guy in the us driving a citron and they may be great cars ( I honestly don't know) But who is going to work on it? Can they get part? Can I even buy an oil filter domestically?

A small shop in town had a Mighty Comet VMC. He had constant problems with it.

The Taiwanese make some very good machines. I guess Mighty isn't one of them.

Rickk, what size machine are you looking at? Some other makers that are far more reputable may be in the right price and performance range for what you seek. Take for example, a smallish Mazak or Mori is a lot more affordable than one would think, but if you start looking at the larger sized machines, they get pretty pricy quickly...I think a 1500mm Mori vertical will set you back well above $500k.

Tell us more of your needs and there is sure to be some well voiced opininons that should help lead you to do a bit more research. One thing that you must consider is your dealer support...it's mechanical, it will break.

Steve

No i just need a machine size of a haas mini mill for my product but the mighty comet looks nice for a price i cant beat 7000 i know you get what you pay for and i am only cutting Aluminum small amoutn of stainless not huge part runs. also looking atand old matsuura but was told they dont make parts for the yasnac mx1 or 3 or 5 control anymore and what if it goes down then what.

The owner of Methods, the US distributor for Matsuura, checks in here regularly. His name is Scott and his screen name is vmcman. Anyway I think Scott said a while back they still maintain a pretty good inventory of parts for the Yasnac LX and MX controls. You could pm him and he'd tell you what level of support they can provide for any Matsuura machine you happen to be looking at.

Originally Posted by rickk

old matsuura but was told they dont make parts for the yasnac mx1 or 3 or 5 control anymore and what if it goes down then what.

Rickk, support for the X1, X2 and X3 is OK. They're pretty reliable, based on what I've seen from the machines around here I support. The potential problem with the X1 and 2 is that the boards are few, but large, packed with lots of chips and traces. Meaning, expensive. They all operate pretty similarly, but I'd go for the X3 based on repairability and expandability. A Mats with an X3 should make a good used machine.

Thanks to everyone so bypass the mighty and go after the why is there so mant used matsuura's out there cheaper than haas's i ran both haas and matsuura and a matsuura ran rings around the haas so why can i get a mtsuura for half the cost of a haas?

Rickk, I think the prices on the used market of both Matsuuras and Haas' are all goofed up. I have seen Matsuuras go for very little and also for way more than they should. I rarely see a Haas go for a screaming cheap price though.

But to get to your question, I think the shops that buy Matsuuras new need the accuracy and longevity - they can also make money with a machine that costs 3-5x the price of a Haas based on the work they do. When they become old and "tired", aka won't hold some crazy 0.0002" volumetric accuracy, they get replaced with new, and afterall, they have made the company a boat load of cash in it's lifetime. I also think one of the used market down sides of the Mats is the Yasnac control - not that there's anything wrong with it, just not as popular as Fanuc or a Haas control. If you have 100 guys, most of them will know Fanuc, many will also know Haas, but few will be Yasnac guys, so they may shy away in essence reducing the potential demand.

I also believe there is a huge, loyal following of Haas owners and users that are comfortable with the machines, and that parts are "always" in stock and reasonable. Matsuura parts are probably not quite as reasonable, and they have to come from Boston or Japan, not your local dealer. The local Methods store may have some stuff, but I wouldn't hold my breath for them to have parts on hand like your local Haas dealer.

So what would I buy...(or bought) was an older Matsuura vertical. It's a little 600mm machine, but is quite heafty (9,000 lbs in no-option trim) and the Y axis ways are about 4" across and spaced about 30" apart. I'm not too worried as there is a Methods store not far away, and as long as the Turcite is in good shape, everything else is easily repaired. And yes, it was cheaper than any Haas I've seen out there.

Steve

When I was shopping for bridge mills, I had taken a serious look at mighty/viper. Spent several days in Taiwan touring their facility. As far as manufacturing & QC goes everything appeard 1st class. They had a full blown CMM inspection room with probably 15 or 20 CMM machines. They also had a clean room where all spindles were assembled.
I was just about to pull the trigger on the machine when I began hearing lots of stories of spindle failers after only a couple of thousand hrs. Needless to say, I went with someone else.

we hve 4 mightys and they are all getting to be 10+ years old. 90 % of our work is 3d machning molds and patterns. They have been pretty good machines overall. as far as running 3d path our okk's and other machines with fanuc controls cannot even compare to the mits control on the vipers. we would have several more of them but the only dealer around has been troubelsome in recent years so we have been buying Haas recently which also has been a good machine for the money.