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Ironworker... Does anyone recognise this brand ??? Bernardo Macchina

I've seen several brands of the same machine, all Geka knockoffs. The only name I remember was Sunshine Iron Workers and I think they were made in China.
 
This machine is a puzzle to me. The company that is liquidating these machines tells me there is no country of origin listed on the name plate. They think these are Taiwanese built machines?
I'm agreeing and also throwing Turkish or China too.

Are there any PM folk that know the backstory on this brand? Bernardo Macchina 125 Ton Capacity Hydraulic Ironworker - complete with dies and punches - Dual o

I have seen that company (Stronghold Equipment) advertise those new Bernardo machines on Bidspotter for years now. I just assumed they were the Canadian / North American distributor who was importing them and using Bidspotter to sell them, as opposed to the traditional way distributors sell machinery. Their current auction list states an auction of equipment belonging to Versa Machining, but a lot of the equipment looks band new , which includes the Bernardo machines, and they all feature the same warehouse background from their previous auction of new Bernardo equipment.

Judging by the aesthetics and price, those are definitely Chinese or Taiwanese.
 
The font is different. I'm not even convinced that is the same company.

I think they are the same company. The machines look similar and the Bernardo website never mentions where the machines are manufactured, they only state that their Austrian warehouses are used for storage and repairs. Very high probability they are all Chinese or Taiwanese imports with possibility some machines are from Turkey and some East European nations.
 
I have personally worked with the Bernardo Macchina machines. I would advice anyone to not buy any machines with this brand name. I have worked with the presses and press brakes also. The machines work but the quality really sucks. You will have a hell of a time finding parts if anything breaks. The word china in Macchina tells you everything you need to know.
 
I have personally worked with the Bernardo Macchina machines. I would advice anyone to not buy any machines with this brand name. I have worked with the presses and press brakes also. The machines work but the quality really sucks. You will have a hell of a time finding parts if anything breaks. The word china in Macchina tells you everything you need to know.
Anything has GOT to be better than a Bettenbender....:skep:
 
I have bought and used some of their equipment, have a cold saw and 2 bandsaws purchased from Stronghold Equipment, price out an automatic CNC 18x13 mitre bandsaw, and a 20x16 bandsaw, I’ve got less than 11K into both bandsaws, and they are probably the most used pieces of equipment in our shop, have only ever had 1 issue, parts were available thru Stronghold equipment, and shipped at no cost, don’t care if they were made in China, I’ll put any of my 3 saws up against a Hydmech, or any other costing 10 times the price, the 14” cold saw that I bought for $500 has made thousands of cuts, without issue.
Now I can’t speak for their shears or press brakes, because they are too small for what we do, but equipment we have purchased, just flat out runs, and the 10’s of thousands we have saved have gone into custom tooling for our 14ft Cincinnati press brake.
Personally, I wouldn’t hesitate to purchase one of the Ironworkers, don’t care if it was made in China, when you can purchase 3 of them for the price of 1 scotchman or piranha, It’s a pretty easy decision, I mean, come on, your punching holes, coping and shearing metal, it doesn’t care if the machine is a Geka knockoff, Scotchman, Piranha, etc,
 
I have seen that company (Stronghold Equipment) advertise those new Bernardo machines on Bidspotter for years now. I just assumed they were the Canadian / North American distributor who was importing them and using Bidspotter to sell them, as opposed to the traditional way distributors sell machinery... those are definitely Chinese or Taiwanese.

x2 I always see them on there, and think the same as you as to it just being a sales ploy. Like a furniture store that has been "going out of business" for the last 10 years it just plants the idea that it must be a good deal. Also I always carry the assumption that if you can not easily find out where a machine is made, then it was made in China. Any other country of manufacture would gladly advertise as such due to it being more desirable than China. I am sure there are exceptions, but I think that is a safe assumption to make. That all said I have no experience with their equipment.
 
There are a few companies importing from Sunrise in Taiwan.

BAILEIGH INDUSTRIAL
TRILOGY MACHINERY. INC.,
WESTWAY MACHINERY LTD.

Not sure if they place orders with different specs but all these companies have imports from Sunrise.
 
The place I worked at bought a Bernardo machina brake that arrived without a manual or even a model number. It was a dirt cheap nightmare that had chips leftover from machining the cylinders still inside it. It had to be disassembled and cleaned before use and lots of the bolts were only finger tight. When I started drilling into it I found big chunks of Bondo everywhere I guess the casting looked like Swiss cheese. The return line splashed into the tank enough that it was having issues with air getting trapped in the cylinders but that was fixed by running a longer return line into the bottom of the tank. It had lots of weird electronic issues too like AC relays running DC and good old knock off Chinese omron components that weren't listed with UL or CSA.

It's hooked up to a Yaskawa robot now and it's made tens of thousands of parts but it definitely had issues that cost time and labour. If you're planning on doing any modification to it and need to get it inspected then plan on replacing most of the electronics.
 
The place I worked at bought a Bernardo machina brake that arrived without a manual or even a model number. It was a dirt cheap nightmare that had chips leftover from machining the cylinders still inside it. It had to be disassembled and cleaned before use and lots of the bolts were only finger tight. When I started drilling into it I found big chunks of Bondo everywhere I guess the casting looked like Swiss cheese. The return line splashed into the tank enough that it was having issues with air getting trapped in the cylinders but that was fixed by running a longer return line into the bottom of the tank. It had lots of weird electronic issues too like AC relays running DC and good old knock off Chinese omron components that weren't listed with UL or CSA.

It's hooked up to a Yaskawa robot now and it's made tens of thousands of parts but it definitely had issues that cost time and labour. If you're planning on doing any modification to it and need to get it inspected then plan on replacing most of the electronics.


:eek::eek::eek::eek: Thanks for the reply. I still love my GEKA
 
When I bought my Geka (about 2000) it was 1 1/2 times the price of a scotchman, and, most likely, double the cost of a Sunrise style Taiwan machine. I paid it willingly, and every time I use it, I smile.
 
Yep I bought a GEKA minicrop. I told the dealer the only complaint was the rocking beam wears the punches oval so we replace punches a lot. He asked how many holes we were punching. About 12,000 a week with a new punch every 5,000 holes, and we'd been doing it for about 6 months. He said it wasn't designed for that much use, I said it was making money I didn't care. Never had a problem, bought a bigger one when we moved our operations.
 








 
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