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A walk across METAV

Martin P

Titanium
Joined
Aug 12, 2004
Location
Germany in the middle towards the left
[FONT=&quot]Some observations from METAV[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]On Thursday I had a chance to walk across the METAV, the machine tool show in Düsseldorf.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Its only a regional show, so it only has 4 big halls and is dominated by the big manufacturers, while prefer to look at small vendors.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]FPS was out in force and it is surprising with what product variety they have turned from re-builder to manufacturer. As a small critique I have to say they can make stuff look cheesy cheap by spraying the machines with that glossy stuff that people spray on tires and into engine compartments, yuk. Also I really do not like the new tables they use, as they are ground, which also makes them look cheap to me.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Weiler had a booth with Kunzmann, I am not sure who owns who now.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I encountered a sole conventional OD grinder (I've been on an OD grinder trip for a while now), which was from Tongil. I don't know why I assumed them to be Italian, but they are really South Korean. As I googled them I found they were founded by the Moon sect, which is really unexpected. The machine was shown by a company calle Saeilo, which is a machine importer/re-badger. They also had a Deckel type mill that looked fairly decent. It supposedly originates in Taiwan and was available from 31KE. Saeilo also said they sell the polish Avia.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]One hall over I saw the exact machine at the booth of "Optimum". That company was to me a full garbage China importer. That apparently has changed somewhat as they now also import much higher end machines, higher end at least in pricing. Yet when hear "OPTIMUM" I will forever get disgust shivers.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I walked past a czech manufacturer that takes old TOS grinding machine and rebuilds them to new machne, mostly also refitted to CNC. They do this for surface and OD grinders. The lathe side of the old TOS company is now selling under the name "Trens". That is because the old TOS conglomerate has split off into so many companies that its confusing and even the location of Trencin is confusing (they were all there). The lathe side is now "Trens". They still carry conventionell lathes of ALL sizes and they look good.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I talked to Fresmack and will send them a defective spindle from a hydraulic vise. They quoted very good numbers. If it works out, I will send them more.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I saw an interesting alternative to the t-loc or loc-line coolant lines, which is the swiss Piranha cooling line made from aluminum, very nice, but probably veeeeery expensive. I will check carefully.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]There were several booths selling LED upgrade equipment to upgrade shop lighting. The LED stuff impresses me in some cases and I will investigate.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]There was special section for 3D printing, but I was in race through mode.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I'd like to GrindTec next month, but its just too far away and I can't think of going on a business trip in that direction. Maybe if I think some more.[/FONT]
 








 
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