Looking for Horizontal - Mazak Model FH-480 with 6 Pallet Pool

Opinions on Mazak Model FH-480 with 6 Pallet Pool

Good Morning!

Looking to purchase our first HMC - also don't have any experience with Mazaks. The machine mentioned above is from a neighboring shop and they are upgrading in the coming months

Any of you Mazak guys give me some opinions or insight?

It is a 1999, FMS Pallet changing system, cat 40, 120 tools, chiller, Cool Blaster HP SCS, chip filter, conveyor, probe, manuals, etc.

Can I continue using Mastercam?

Any of you out there using this exact set up? How do you like it? What is maintenance costs like?

What is an educated guess as to what a fair price would be?

Thanks!

SJR

You sure it's an FH-480 and not an FH-4800? There's a huge difference.

Is it a round rack of 6 pallets, or is it a palletech (straight line with an RGV that hustles them around).

We have a 480 in our shop and it has run tons of production probly 20 hours a day for many many years. It is still kickin too. I would say it is a great machine. What do you mean can I still use mastercam?

358Mustang said:

What do you mean can I still use mastercam?

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Probably means: is it a "mazatrol only" machine...which I would guess it is not.

It is a FH 480 with a round pallet pool.

tc1999 said:

Probably means: is it a "mazatrol only" machine...which I would guess it is not.

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Yes, that is what I meant.........sorry for the confusion

Any thoughts on a fair price?

That's a tough one to guess. I shop the used dealers on a continual basis, for the last 10 years or so, and I don't think I've ever seen a 6 pallet FH-480 come up. Most people who have them, are holding on to them. It is the older style machine with the old control, but it's still very fast and accurate (as long as it hasn't been abused). I have a buddy with an 8 (maybe 12?) pallet, 25,000rpm FH-480 that runs all day every day making mountains of chips.

The regular two pallet models with the cheapo conveyor and 60 tools sell for $50-$70k. The machine you're looking at has a lot more cool shit, but it's also twice as much shit to disassemble, pack, move, and reassemble. If you know the shop, and you know they're still making good parts with the machine, it's worth whatever you wanna pay for it. $100K would certainly be reasonable. In a way, you're sort of lucky it's a 480 and not a 4800, because a 1999 FH-4800 outfitted the same way would be $160K minimum.