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Looking for new Lathe Manufacturer Recommendations

SemperFiUSMC

Plastic
Joined
Jan 25, 2021
Hello all,

I've been a long time lurker, and haven't had a need to post on the forum, but I have consumed a lot of great information. Thanks.

We are predominately a Haas shop with 3 mills (DT-1s) and 5 (SL & STs) lathes, along with a couple of Fanuc Robodrills. We are not a job shop - we manufacture our own products. We have a couple of machine operators, and contract our heavy hitting machinist / programing work out. We have successfully operated in this model for the past 7 years, in large part to the ease of use the Haas platform provided.

Without trying to start a range war (which it probably will anyway) or going into detail why we no longer see Haas as a go to vendor (he reasons are irrelevant), we are considering an active project to transition to another manufacturer for both lathes and mills. We are probably going to go Robodrill since we already have a couple and they are absolutely awesome, and our support is superb.

I am far less certain on lathes. We typically buy machines that are 3 - 5 years old, but our last two lathes were an ST10Y w/sub-spindle, and an ST15Y. Both were brand new, and under $100K each (we bought them when Haas was running sick promotions).

Most of our work is multi-op turn then mill. We are gravitating toward multi-axis turning centers to reduce the impact of labor we can't seem to find. We are looking for one logo to be a primary supplier. I am looking for suggestions and recommendations. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,

Steve
 
Are you happy with the way the haas machines were performing? Or are you looking for something larger/more rigid?

If you were happy with how they cut, then I think the logical choice would be a machine of similar size / construction (linear guides) with a fanuc controller.

I was eyeing some of the hardinge lathes last year, they are linear guide machines and come with fanuc controls. The one I was looking at was one of the sv series from a few years ago, I think the new ones are now GS series. It was similar in size to the st10 and used linear guide construction. I ended up going with a larger box way lathe, but I think I would have been happier with the smaller/lighter hardige.
 
Depending on your price range, Doosan is an excellent value. I'm a little biased, as I used to work for them, but excellent value for the money.
If you're thinking of really getting good stuff, Okuma is top drawer. I own one and love it. Expensive, but worth every penny.
 
Depending on your price range, Doosan is an excellent value. I'm a little biased, as I used to work for them, but excellent value for the money.
If you're thinking of really getting good stuff, Okuma is top drawer. I own one and love it. Expensive, but worth every penny.

I have a bias towards Okuma with a similar reason as Douglas, and did buy an old one I am moving to my home shop in the spring. At the shop I work at, we have been buying mainly Okuma, but at our second shop for a variety of reasons we could not get Okuma and so we bought a Doosan NHP5000 horizontal and have been very pleased so for.
 








 
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