Star SR-32J or Citizen BNA-42MSY2

https://stargb.com/cnc-sliding-head-lathes/sr-32j/ Fanuc 32iB
BNA42MSY : Products : CITIZEN MACHINERY CO., LTD. M70V Cincom/Mitsubishi

The Citizen is pretty easy to get my head around but haven't used a sliding head before.

Batches from 20 to 1000, lots of stainless, o ring surfaces, need versatility and easy to set up,

Any observations, comments?

Cheers

Two different machines for different applications, I think. I say this as a guy with Citizen Swiss and Miyano turret machines on the floor.

Rough sizes of your parts?

The Citizen/Miyano control is miles ahead in terms of being user friendly, both for setup/operating and programming. The Fanuc on the Star has a slight advantage in being easier to re-start mid program, but for me, that's a non-issue, maybe it means something to you.

That said, if your parts fit a sliding head machine, I'd look at a Citizen L32 or M32. BUT that's also dependent upon support in your area. Where I am, Star support is spotty and Citizen is amazing. If your situation is reversed, there's nothing WRONG with an SR32, it's just not the machine I would pick if given the choice.

If you have specific questions, I'm happy to try to answer them as someone with pretty extensive Swiss experience, and a modicum of Miyano turret machine experience.

I think Star support is spotty no matter where you are in the USA. I have dealt with both the California and New York office, ordering parts from them is a PITA unless something has changed in the last couple years. I have heard nothing but good about support from Citizen.

Like Teachme said, they are pretty different machines...the sliding headstock is probably much faster for many applications since each spindle can be doing something different at the same time. Can you share any sketches of example parts?

I believe Citizen to have the best overall reputation, especially over Star regarding service. I have three Tsugami sliding headstocks so maybe that is an option, too, depending on support in your area. (Fanuc controls on those.) For some reason I am under the impression that the machine quality goes Citizen, Tsugami, Star...in that order. That is not to say that Star is crap...a guy near me has over 30 of them in his shop and is perfectly happy with them. Good luck!

Cheers for the feedback lads.

I understand these are quite different machines but surely they produce the same components? The citizen does have synchronous machining with a double sided turret. I understand that he star is likely to be quicker but the job (plain 32mm stst tube with internal o ring bores grooves and bsp threads) that's driving the purchase is likely to be only a few thousand a year so the machine has to accommodate a broad range of parts.

I suppose my concern with the star is would it be daunting for a 'traditional' turret turner? - I'd relish learning a new machine, but most of our setter/operators would not - very conservative.

Would the set up time exclude small batches? with the close proximity of all the tools I presume component geometry has to stay within the max billet

cheers