Okuma or Mori-Seiki

I have a tough choice. I'm looking at a small 8" machine with milling and Y-axis.

The choices are:
Okuma LB 3000 MY normal bore. 30HP.
Mori-Seiki NLX-2000 MY, upped the HP to 30HP.

The Okuma has 9.5HP/6000 RPM on milling the Mori has 7.5HP/10,000 RPM

Mori's are very popular out east of where I am from. Okuma's are more common around here. I was talking to another knowledgeable person who recommended Mori all the way thinking they make a superior product. The pricing isn't too much different, maybe 7%.

What would you recommend and why?

Mydrrin said:

I have a tough choice. I'm looking at a small 8" machine with milling and Y-axis.

The choices are:
Okuma LB 3000 MY normal bore. 30HP.
Mori-Seiki NLX-2000 MY, upped the HP to 30HP.

The Okuma has 9.5HP/6000 RPM on milling the Mori has 7.5HP/10,000 RPM

Mori's are very popular out east of where I am from. Okuma's are more common around here. I was talking to another knowledgeable person who recommended Mori all the way thinking they make a superior product. The pricing isn't too much different, maybe 7%.

What would you recommend and why?

Click to expand...

Im a big mori fan..but if your going to have better support for an Okuma which is still a really really decent machine....

mori is a better machine. they always have been. however...if your machine goes down, which at some point it will, your gonna be on a really hot job and to get that thing up any quicker will be a blessing. plus to hire a guy onto a machine already prevalent in your area...i dont think you would be missing out on anything if you bought the Okuma

I have an NL2000SY, I know it is bulletproof and deadly accurate.
I have not worked with the Okuma, but I have seen them on the showroom floor.
One thing that was immediately apparent and virtually a non-starter with the Okuma is the incredibly cramped turret and turret clearances around .... well everything actually.

With the NL the most important thing to remember is that you are limited in the tool lengths on the subspindle side of the turret. If you need longer drills, you may not be able to hold them in a standard
ER collet, or must put on an offset ID block.
Otherwise your only limits will pretty much be the axial live tools, of which you can get the offset types to get closer to the chuck face.
I like that the programing is logical for both, the main and the sub, that is to say regardless of which spindle you're working on, the tool tip directions, compensations etc, they all follow the very same common theme.
The only beef I have with the Mits control is the 80 tool offset limit. Works fine for double holders on one given station/turret face, but when you have 3 ( or 4 as it may be ), you'll have to come up with a pretty good scheme
to keep them straight.

Again, while I don't have hands-on experience with the Okuma, from what I've seen 3 years ago did not impress me for clearances.
That BTW goes for the plain Jane LB3000 with a 10" chuck vs. the Duraturn 2550. The Dura's turret is about 10" larger in diameter than the Okuma, no clearance issues whatsoever.

May not make a big difference for some folks, for me it's a show stopper.

I love me some good clearances, especially with live tooling. The only machines around NA was the LB 3000 BBMY had a A8 with a 10" chuck but like 8.5" clearances, have to get one in from Japan with the standard A6 and not BB. It was so odd to me.

I have a good grasp of millwrighting over the years from fixing up machines and like to fix them myself for the common bumps and alignment issues, easier, usually faster and usually better than calling someone in. I think Mori designs are usually made with fixing in mind. A 2 year warranty helps for the electrical, drives and such.

Haven't had an Okuma design. But many people I know personally love them. But Mori is so rare in Western Canada I wanted to know people who might have had experiences with both.

I run a Mori NL2500SY. Awesome machine. Holds tolerance very well and I can slam a 2.0 dia. drill through 1.5 in. thick S7 in about 15 sec. Great overall machine if you have a lot of parts to get done fast. My only complaint (and this may be lack of time with the machine) is how long it takes to get it up and running. I can set-up a Mazak lathe with Mazatrol in half the time. We typically run 3-4 different jobs in it every week. I know absolutely nothing about Okuma's but have heard the are great machines. Guess I would look at ease of set-up, customer service response, and cost of maintenance/repairs.

Good Luck to ya eh!

I prefer an Okuma over a Mori, but it isn't because of the iron under either of them, Mori seiki builds a very quality machine, I just hate the controls on them. Okumas control is different but it is a better control hands down.

Robert my ±2