Sodick Wire EDM AQ360LX. Should I buy it?

[Trevor360]

I am looking at purchasing a used Wire Edm. This would be my first wire edm and I have never worked with Wire edm directly so part of this purchase will be the learning curve for me. Someone locally is selling a 2010 Sodick Wire EDM AQ360LX with 45,000 hours for what seems like a very reasonable price. Anything I should know about this machine? Would this be a good choice for a general purpose starter machine? Will I still find support and parts for it? Is 45,000 hours over 13 years a lot of a little in terms of the used wire edm market? What do you think it might be worth? Any advice here would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[SteveEx30]

Just call Sodick directly and ask.

 

[nlancaster]

As Steve said, call Sodick.

I run two AG600Ls, one from 2010 the other from 2011, and they are still great machines. They have somewhere around 40,000 hours on them since new.
Half of that in the last 5 years since I started running them.

Sodick Tech support is great, I am not sure how it works for purchasers of used machines but I think you can pay a certain price to get Sodick Tech support.

 

[Shane030173]

These machines along with the AQ400 and AQ600 were made in China and Thailand. Not saying anything is wrong with that, just saying. Also, the DI clean and dirty tanks were below the table. Condensation from the tanks can cause the Linear drive to warp.

 

[Don Davis 87]

I am looking at purchasing a used Wire Edm. This would be my first wire edm and I have never worked with Wire edm directly so part of this purchase will be the learning curve for me. Someone locally is selling a 2010 Sodick Wire EDM AQ360LX with 45,000 hours for what seems like a very reasonable price. Anything I should know about this machine? Would this be a good choice for a general purpose starter machine? Will I still find support and parts for it? Is 45,000 hours over 13 years a lot of a little in terms of the used wire edm market? What do you think it might be worth? Any advice here would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Buy it, I’ve owned new and used Sodick wire EDM’s for the past 30 years and I own a 2004 AQ550L now that still makes excellent parts. Sodick’s have linear motors so there are no ballscrews or couplings that can wear out and affect accuracy. Sodick will ask that you register with them and they will help you if you have a problem, nice folks to work with.