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Mori Seiki clones

shapeaholic

Stainless
Joined
Oct 14, 2003
Location
Kemptville Ontario, Canada
I have been hunting around the web looking for a "new" lathe to lust after ( have to sell my Rivett 608 first)
I have been looking with great interest at the Mori Seiki MS series of lathes, as they seem to have most of the capabilities that I am looking for.

The question I have is; What are the known clones of these machines?
I know about the Webb, Whacheon, and YAM lathes, and I suspect that the Cadillac is also a clone.
Are there any others? Are they any good?

Here in the machinery gulag sometimes the only thing available (reasonably) is a clone.

Thanks
Pete
 
I think Victor is a Mori clone. We've got a 16X30 at work, and it is a fine lathe. I don't know if the quality is still that good. AlfaGT has a Korean Dong Yang , that is one of the nicest lathes I've seen regardless of nationality. I've also seen a Mori clone under the Wasino? name.
 
I believe the Whacheons (or Hwacheons) and Webbs (same thing) are pretty good. However, the Cadillac lathes aren't nearly as nice. They look the same, but they are a crappy Chinese knock-off. The others are made in Taiwan and of much better quality. Of course, the ideal would be to find a Mori, but they are hard to come by and don't go cheap. The Takisawa/Yuasa lathes that pop up from time to time are a smaller version and are also of good quality. Might be worth keeping an eye out for a deal on one of those, too.
 
Ross' Dong Yang is a copy of an Okuma, not a Mori Seiki.

My understanding is that the Whacheon/Hwacheon is a copy built (at least originally) under a license from Mori Seiki (as Dong Yang did with Okuma). Anything else would be "Mori style" rather than a Mori built by someone else.

cheers,
Michael
 
Michael is correct. We have a Yam which has been a good lathe for 20+ years of University duty but is now finished. we are about to buy a Whacheon to replace it at about $28K. These lathes are built in Korea under license as opposed to the other Morri "copies" which are mostly made in Taiwan.

The decision to buy a Whacheon was taken because we were unable to find another "quality" convential lathe of that size at a reasonable price. The pefered option was a Weiler Commador at nerely three times the price.

Charles.
 
Bought a new Whacheon 2 years ago for 23,500 fob Cali. One of the best I've ever used.
Got a quote today for another, fob Cal. 28,995. Yikes, USD is realy in the toilet!

Flying out to look over a 2000 model year Whacheon Tuesday.

I too lust for a weiler, but it is priced out of the park.

Alan
 
I believe Michael is correct: the Whacheon (or Hwacheon) is built under license from Mori, using the original patterns. The Whacheon was originally sold under the brand names of several trading companies: Webb, Royal, Cadillac being some of them. More recently, Whacheon is selling under their own name. While Webb, Cadillac, Royal, et. al. continue to sell lathes, they are not the same - being trading companies they simply rebrand whatever have that day. To find out if one you are looking at was built by Whacheon, look for the manufacturers plate which will identify it as such, or call Whacheon USA with the serial number and ask them.
 
We had a brand spanking new Hwacheon 460X1500 sell for AU$23000 at an online auction here last month.....Apparently they retail for near twice that much...

You have to ask yourself are they really worth that much.....

Recently I have been looking at Annn Yang lathes....I have no idea of what they are like quality wise (no where near a mori as you expect) but the specs are nice.. Another Mori knockoff not mentioned so dar is the Taiwanese made Phillips Imperial http://www.machines4u.com.au/view/?advert_id=7414&photo_id=14871

http://www.annnyang.com/products/products_show.php?pid=10&cid=5

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v606/OzRinger/annnyang2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v606/OzRinger/annnyang1.jpg

No where near as nice as this though

HwacheonCentreLathe_460x1000.jpg
 
I have two 14" Cadillac lathes one is a I believe a Yang and the other a Yam built machine. Both were imported from Taiwan thru Webb machine. I picked these lathes up along with some other machines when I bought out about 1/2 of a local high school machine shop. While not used all that much the kids stole handles and such. I bought new Cadillac nameplates from Webb for both machines, quite pricey to say the least. All the other parts I have needed I have either made or sourced locally, McMaster-Carr, etc.

The Cadillac lathe I have went thru, cleaned up and repainted was built in 1974 and has the A1-5 spindle. The other lathe I still have stored waiting time to get around to has a D1-5 spindle and was built in 1980. I have been told which is the Yang and Yam but I don't recall which is which. Outside of the spindle, quick change box, and the fwd/off/rev lever they are basically the same machines.

I know one shop that has acouple Mori-Seki lathes and the cadillacs are a close cousin. The guy that owns the shop said he would take one or both of my cadillacs should I decide to sell them. Myself if I found a good deal on any more Cadillacs or their cousins I would certainly be interested.

tim
 
FWIW, I have a near pristine 1990's Korean built Hwacheon 17 x 40 with Newall DRO I might be convinced to sell if you throw enough money at me.

It appears like the one in RC's photo...current design with the electical panel over the headstock...but is gray instead of green. (that's the first green one I've ever seen) and doesn't have the two speed tailstock...just standard issue one speed. With steady rest and the usual chucks.
 
2) hwacheon's hl460G 18" x 40"

Hey Guys,

We have two year 2000 hl460g's with DRO. They are however at one of those damn machinery dealers though! The no bullshit Practical machinist forum price is 9k loaded on truck

Great lathes - The hwacheons -

Here is the link to the Hwacheons:
http://www.wigglesworth.com/display.cfm?p=123&pp=4
scroll down just a bit -

Hope you find the right one.

Tom Wigglesworth
www.wigglesworth.com
 

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that's the first green one I've ever seen)

Here's another green one, the only Hwacheon I've ever owned, and that was only for a couple of hours, but that's another story (tail-rotor tailstock)
 

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Here's another green one, the only Hwacheon I've ever owned, and that was only for a couple of hours, but that's another story (tail-rotor tailstock)
That one looks old enough that it may not be original paint...in which case the point is moot.
 
But maybe yours is more 'near pristine' than his. So just how near to pristine is it, and how much money would someone have to throw your way to talk you out of it?
Just looking at his pictures, I have to admit his look just as good as mine...funny the one with Newall DRO is essentially identical to mine in every way except mine has a worklight. I was thinking more like $11,500.... and don't feel like enough "wiggle-room" to get anywhere near $9,000.

OTOH, I see no mention of steady rest or chucks... mine does have 3 jaw chuck (can't remember make) and Pratt Burnerd 4 jaw and steady rest

Anyhoo, I hope some of you guys appreciate the fact that not only am I loosing out on some banner ad revenue by allowing dealers and distributors to essentially advertise for free here (Methods Machine being the most noticable culprit in that regard), but now am even loosing out on some actual sales in my regular business ! :(
 








 
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