Gildemeister CTX 310

[horsepowered]

I am strongly considering purchasing a Gildemeister CTX 310 with Y axis and subspindle. Any input from users of this machine would be greatly appreciated. Are there any big negatives about the machine? Are there any service or support issues with DMG? I will be doing mostly bar work with very tight tolerances and production runs from 25 to 1000 parts. I currently am doing all my work on 2 axis lathes and doing the secondary work on my mills. How good is Mastercam Lathe at programing these machines compared to just programing at the control? I have concerns that parts transfers and cutoffs may be cumbersome with Mastercam. Another Mastercam question is are there good bullet proof posts available for these machines? (not asking for one) Thank you for any input offered. Jim

[dougm]

I have a ctx 420 fanuc 1801

love the y axis

support from dmg is still unstable

what control are you looking at ?

we use mastercam to do all programing

but our machine does not have a sub spindle

[horsepowered]

Dougm thanks for the reply. The control is the Fanuc 32i with manual guide i. I was concerned that support may be a little unstable as well as speed of repair parts and service. I have always bought from a local distributor or factory direct in the case of our Hardinge GT-27SP. Hardinge factory is only 120 miles from me.

[dougm]

Hardinge GT-27sp now thats a machine

we have one thats 7 years old

replaced a cracked way oil tank and thats all

in 7 years

 

i hear the 32i is avery strong control

IMHO DMG makes great machines

I really like the CTX

and they tell me the service problem is getting fixed ,well what else are they going to tell me

But i do have a good sales rep

If i have a problem he gets it taken care of

Doug

[horsepowered]

My Hardinge is 8 years old and I have never had an issue with it. We bought it to hold a .000025 tolerance on a bore and it has held that tolerance since day one. .000010 resolution makes it easy to hold straightness as well and no measureable out of roundness on parts.

 

I know the Gildemeister won't do that well in tolerance, but the versatility of subspindle and Y axis should really do a lot for me in taking second ops off the mill. I am going to Dayton monday to see a demo and will make my decision then. Thanks for the input.

Jim

[ToolMan184]

Manual Guide I is more powerful than most think it is. I have a VMC and 2 Lathes with it. Simple stuff is very fast on the VMCs. We do most of the programming in Manual Guide I on the lathes. Very fast to use.

[horsepowered]

Toolman184 will the Manual Guide i handle the milling as well and part transfers. I am hoping to program at the control until I can get a post perfected.

 

Thanks for your reply! Jim

[GVM]

I own a CTX 410, had it for little over a year now. I love this machine. I opted for the Heidenhain control. This control is very powerful but not very common in the US. I do not have a sub spindle but I know the control supports part transfers, from the users manual of which you can download from here http://filebase.heidenhain.de/doku/cncpilo...l/de/index.html

[horsepowered]

Thanks for the reply Gary. I looked at the machine yesterday and was very impressed. I would be purchasing the fanuc control. The only downside I could see about the machine is that it is nearly impossible to run without the door open. When setting up I job I have the door open a lot. Will definately take some getting used to. Thanks again for your reply. Jim

[GVM]

Jim, Yes it would be nice to occasionally be able to open the door. I've just gotten use to running graphics a couple of times as a double check and slowly turning up the feed knob. The one thing I don't care for is the fact that it is hard to clean the door window. When opening the door it telescopes into the sheet metal so even if you reach in as much as possible with the door almost closed you still can't reach the last 4 or 5 inches.