Ona edm

I was wondering if anyone has any experience with an ONA EDM sinker. Particularly the ONA NX6. Just trying to get some feedback (positive or negative) about their machines.
Any information about ease of controls (programming), speed, electrode wear, filtration system, reliability, service, or anything else is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

ONA has always held the niche of "BIG" workpieces.
It used to be, if you needed to work on big stuff, it was the only show in town.
A recent high level executive (who no longer works there) worked very hard to beat that rap and just show them as a good machine tool.

They also had the only filter-less filtration system in the biz.
As mentioned in another post, they owned the patent on centrifugal filtration and would not sell the system without the machine.
I recently saw a system for sale at IMTS by an Asian company however.

Given that they aren't as popular as the big boys (Charmilles, Mits, Makino), I would venture to say their support in the US is inferior.
Can't say that for sure however...just an educated guess.

Given that they are BIG machines meant to do BIG burns, electrode wear is probably very good...but that is true of any BIG amp burn.

Again...Given they are big amp burns, speed is also good.

Ease of control I can not speak to...frankly...they are all "easy" once you know how to run them.

Are you planning for very large workpieces?

Jay Crumb

The only issue here is that if he has significant surface finish requirements it will be harder to achieve on a machine tailored to bigger workpeices. I guess the question, then, is what kind of applications does the OP plan to run?

JayCrumb said:

ONA has always held the niche of "BIG" workpieces.
It used to be, if you needed to work on big stuff, it was the only show in town.
A recent high level executive (who no longer works there) worked very hard to beat that rap and just show them as a good machine tool.

They also had the only filter-less filtration system in the biz.
As mentioned in another post, they owned the patent on centrifugal filtration and would not sell the system without the machine.
I recently saw a system for sale at IMTS by an Asian company however.

Given that they aren't as popular as the big boys (Charmilles, Mits, Makino), I would venture to say their support in the US is inferior.
Can't say that for sure however...just an educated guess.

Given that they are BIG machines meant to do BIG burns, electrode wear is probably very good...but that is true of any BIG amp burn.

Again...Given they are big amp burns, speed is also good.

Ease of control I can not speak to...frankly...they are all "easy" once you know how to run them.

Are you planning for very large workpieces?

Jay Crumb

Click to expand...

We don't do large workpieces very often but we have a roboform 810 we would like to replace and ONA has a machine with similar travels. I like the option of being able to set up multiple workpieces at once.

We do a lot of ribs and pretty fine detail and usually go to a 24 VDI.

I'm just trying to get all the information I can on a bunch of different sinkers and haven't heard much about ONA.
Another machine I have been looking at is the OPS Ingersoll gantry eagle.

I can understand the interest in setting up multiple work pieces. Roboform, ONA, and Ingersoll all fall towards the "low-cost" end of the spectrum. Given that you are trying to achieve precision, I would note that the Ingersolls are often fabricated machines and not cast, so this may compromise some precision out of hand. I am not as familiar with ONA.

I'm biased (as you can imagine), but on the more quality side of things you could consider a Sodick in similar size. If you go for an AG100L it will have a slightly larger work area than your Roboform, but it still uses the precision circuits made for finishing in their smaller sized AG models (which is what you want if you have surface finish requirements).

If you want, check it out here: AG1L Sinker EDM | Sodick | Linear Motor Drives | CNC | Electrical Discharge Machine

keurb said:

We don't do large workpieces very often but we have a roboform 810 we would like to replace and ONA has a machine with similar travels. I like the option of being able to set up multiple workpieces at once.

We do a lot of ribs and pretty fine detail and usually go to a 24 VDI.

I'm just trying to get all the information I can on a bunch of different sinkers and haven't heard much about ONA.
Another machine I have been looking at is the OPS Ingersoll gantry eagle.

Click to expand...

keurb,

Have you considered looking at a Makino EDNC6 or EDNC8, which are comparable in size to your existing RoboForm 810? Makino has recently introduced a new High Speed Z-Axis that utilizes a core cooled ball screw system, which means that you can achieve optimal speeds without sacrificing accuracy. This new Z-Axis coupled with the new HyperCut generator settings provide some serious performance gains with extremely low electrode wear over Makino's prior technology. I've provided links to the Makino website below, and also to a Makino Webinar that highlights the design and capability of the EDNC-Series Sinker EDM machines.

I see from your comments that you don't often work with large parts, but like to utilize a large machine to setup multiple parts. What is your typical work piece size? Do you also have an ideal ATC Unit size in mind? Have you considered using a smaller machine (say a Makino EDAF3 or EDNC6 size machine) and automating it with a small robot? This type of automation is growing in popularity, and the robot systems available now are cost effective and easy to use. The costs are not that different when you compare the costs of an ATC Unit option against the cost of a robot. Once you have invested in a robot, you gain the ability to change both Work Pieces and Electrodes, which can dramatically improve your machine utilization time and productivity. There are also some other somewhat hidden items that need to be considered when shifting to automation, which are the tooling costs, as the work pieces need to become palletized in order to facilitate automation.

Please let me know if you have any questions, as I'll help you however I can!


EDNC8 Ram EDM Machine for Optimum Productivity | Makino

Machine Tool Webinars and Events | Makino

- Brian

Sodickguy,

Thank you for that link. Looks like I will have to get a quote on the AG100L and add it to the list of possible candidates.


Brian Pfluger,

This looks like a nice machine as well that I will have to look into.

Our typical work piece sizes range from small MUD units to medium size blocks (14"-20") however, we do have some jobs that can get up to 40"-60".

We also have a roboform 550 that has a 32 piece ATC which is the smallest I would want to go on our new machine unless we decide to automate it with a robot.

We are already set up with FCS in our shop and I'm not sure if that would work with trying to automate it with a robot or not.

Yes, especially if you're doing multiple work pieces you wouldn't want to reduce your ATC capacity. If you are thinking about robot automation, I know that Sodick's Chicago office has a showroom Erowa robot compact 80 that they have been looking to move. You could probably get a deal on it if you are looking at the AG100L.

keurb said:

We also have a roboform 550 that has a 32 piece ATC which is the smallest I would want to go on our new machine unless we decide to automate it with a robot.

Click to expand...

Ok, I will have to look into that. I appreciate the information.

Ona NX-6

keurb said:

I was wondering if anyone has any experience with an ONA EDM sinker. Particularly the ONA NX6. Just trying to get some feedback (positive or negative) about their machines.
Any information about ease of controls (programming), speed, electrode wear, filtration system, reliability, service, or anything else is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Click to expand...

I have 3 customers with a NX-6, they where quiet surprised with the finish and electrode wear, One customer cut 3 electrodes for his first job and only ended up using one. I have over 30 machines in the Windsor area new and old. Parts are stocked in Windsor and Michigan, the filtering system is a Transor filter, I have machines that are 20 years old and running great.

Good to know. Thanks for the feedback.