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Komo Machine - Anyone here know their history ?

Milacron

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Joined
Dec 15, 2000
Location
SC, USA
There is this http://www.komo.com/Pages/about_us.htm

But I'd like to know who the new owners were in 1981, and why did they move from Minnesota to New Jersey in 2009 and why do they seem to have gotten out of building long travel bed style VMC's ? * Or any other interesting tidbits you might want to throw in. :typing:

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*OK, there is that VGM thing, but I'll bet it's so expensive as to be a moot point...they used to make a more affordable long travel VMC.
 
Interesting, I drive by their old plant twice a year on HWY 10 in St Cloud, one year I drove by and there was a for sale/lease sign on the property, I just figured the economic downturn hit them hard like everyone else. It's good to see they didn't fold. A guy I used to work with was employed for a while at Komo and we looked at one to buy at work but it was way to pricey. I always thought they were top end routers not VMC's. Didn't really answer your question though, sorry.

Dave
 
I worked at that place for a couple a months back when I was in tech school. They built OK routers, but their machining centers where less than reliable. I operated both. Other than that, I have no "dirt" on the place.
 
A little over a year ago I did a service call right across the street from them on Gusmer Drive and they were gone. Sign was still up but parking lot was empty. I asked my customer about them and they said they didn't know what happened. They told me that they built CNC routers out of there. All I know, sorry. Oh, and my customer, gone to.
Bill
 
Gusmer in Lakewood NJ a division of PMC made foam spraying equipment. They
were bought out by Graco, their largest competitor and shut down. Don't know
why they would buy Komo. I know someone that worked there for a long time,
I'll contact him and see what he knows. It was a good place to work when the
Gusmer family had it. Another part of the Gusmer corp exists in north jersey. Still run by other members of the family. They are involved in making filtration paper. A far cry from machine tools.
 
From the woodworking side, they where the king of heavy American iron cnc routers for years. Mostly moving table fixed gantry configuration, high quality. I think in your router shopping you can see the trend is lighter machines, moving gantry for smaller footprint, and a lot of euro c-frames, especially as the mega furniture plants have folded. Unfortunately I don't think they adapted quickly enough, but not they're not completely out yet. There is a local cabinet shop by me with an older Komo machine and it is awesome.
 
From the woodworking side, they where the king of heavy American iron cnc routers for years. Mostly moving table fixed gantry configuration, high quality. I think in your router shopping you can see the trend is lighter machines, moving gantry for smaller footprint, and a lot of euro c-frames, especially as the mega furniture plants have folded. Unfortunately I don't think they adapted quickly enough, but not they're not completely out yet. There is a local cabinet shop by me with an older Komo machine and it is awesome.
I spoke with a Komo salesman this morning (was calling about a used one they had advertised) and the scoop is the Sexton family bought Komo the first time (1981), and then they were bought out a few years ago by current owners.

New owners did move production to China. But there was such an uproar over that, that they closed the MN plant and moved everything to NJ where they are now once again made in USA.

The catch is the prices are so high now that I suspect folks like Haas and Onsrud take alot of their business. A typical 5 x 10 size Komo with tool changer and Fanuc control is now in the $150,000 range when all is said and done. Onsrud not much less than that however for apples to apples machine.
 
I believe Hoff did the auction and from what I heard they were going to start making machines in China. Call Denny Hoff and he should know the story.
Were there new CNC routers (complete and/or in process) at the auction or was it mostly fabrication machines they used to build the routers ?
 
From the woodworking side, they where the king of heavy American iron cnc routers for years.
Northwood (also USA) were made heavier but perhaps didn't sell as much and/or concentrated more on stone cutting side of the industry.

5-Axis Fixed Table | Northwood Machine Manufacturing Company

I owned a Northwood 4 x 8 which was old* but had relatively new Italian spindles. Sold it due to worries over the Allen Bradley control in the long run. Worked fine at the time I sold it however. No tool changer or drills...just two router heads.

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*I would normally say exactly what year something is, but the funny part is that no one at Northwood could tell me what year it was made ! Only that it was one of the first routers they built.
 
Don,
If you really need some info, I can get you in contact with a former employee that could give you some insight(maybe). He started his own woodshop just across town after working for Komo for a bunch of years. PM me if you'd want to talk with him.
 
Don,
If you really need some info, I can get you in contact with a former employee that could give you some insight(maybe). He started his own woodshop just across town after working for Komo for a bunch of years. PM me if you'd want to talk with him.
If he worked for them up until the point they decided to try Chinese manufacture, I would be fascinated to hear what he has to say. But even if he quit before then, might be interesting. My PM box is eternally full....could you email me at [email protected] ? Thanks !
 
Email sent. Let us know what you find out.
Thanks for the lead. One reason I got interested in Komo is they supposedly made the router I just bought. Below is Youtube link to the actual machine (2008 demo model)

SNX 408 TG - Cabinet Parts - YouTube

Except for the base design, does look very similar in basic construction to a Komo.

Interesting tidbits include that SNX is located one of the old Komo buildings in Saux Rapids, MN and the salesman I dealt with on this is a Sexton, previously one of the Komo ownership family members.

One curiosity is they mention having everything advertisted ready to demo at their facility, and yet the building is only 10,000 sq ft ! Seems like that huge Northwood router would take up a quarter of the building by itself (click "pre owned machinery" to see what I mean) , so how they could possibly have all that iron in that little building is beyond me....not to mention that some of it must be office space and rest rooms. I wonder if they left off a zero on the 10,000 sq ft figure ?

About SNX Technologies
 
Yeah. The old KOMO building is MUCH larger than 10K sq ft. More like 150-200K with 30-40 ft pre-formed concrete side walls and OH cranes everywhere. Nice facility.
 
Yeah. The old KOMO building is MUCH larger than 10K sq ft. More like 150-200K with 30-40 ft pre-formed concrete side walls and OH cranes everywhere. Nice facility.
Were the KOMO facilities all in just one building as far as you know ? If so, the 10K figure must be a misprint.... I emailed one of the SNX guys to ask just now.
 
As far as I know, they did it all under one roof. Maybe SNX is leasing out a bunch of floor space and have everything sqeezed into the 10K space? Do a Google Map search on SNX's address and zoom in on the building. 11 Industrial BlvdSauk Rapids, MN 56379 (I'd post the areal pic of it but not sure how) It's a large building.
 
As far as I know, they did it all under one roof. Maybe SNX is leasing out a bunch of floor space and have everything sqeezed into the 10K space? Do a Google Map search on SNX's address and zoom in on the building. 11 Industrial BlvdSauk Rapids, MN 56379 (I'd post the areal pic of it but not sure hoe) It's a large building.
Mystery solved....they are in the 178,000 sq foot building but renting only 10,000 sq ft. of it. But apparently because no one else is renting in there yet they are actually using way more than 10,000 sq ft of space ! The Northwood router is taking up about 1,000 sq ft...which is less than I would have expected just to look at it. If their space is not walled off I wonder what they do for heat ? :willy_nilly:
 
It would break the bank to heat that place. At leas this winter has been mild here in MN. It was in the 50's yesterday.:eek: Normally it's closer to -20° this time of the year.:ack2:
 








 
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