Makino Opinions

[The Cathedral]

Come one, come all, give me everything you've got on Makino's. Repeatability, quality, longevity, serviceability, support, you name it, I want it. Bring it!

[Guest]

Makinos, quality, performance and reliability is nothing short of great

 

They belong listed at the top of the list with only a few others

[Newbeeee™]

 

They belong listed at the top of the list with only a few others

So are they the top of the list, or among the top 3 of the top list?

I'm corn-fused

[MLS]

Top notch IMO for everything you mentioned.

 

[jlw™]

There are several at the top that I would say are all very good and it would take 20 years to see any real differences.

 

All the Makinos I know of are top notch.

[YoDoug®]

I work for an Okuma distributor so my opinion is slightly biased. That being said I prefer Okuma because of the control, however Makino would be my second choice for sure. Beyond that I if I didn't need any fancy control stuff and just wanted a good workhorse of a horizontal I would consider OKK. Working for a distributor I get into a lot of shops and hear a lot of people's opinions. Makino's are are almost always spoken highly of. 

[crazy^millman]

Good machines and made very well. The lower quality models made to compete with HAAS I don't like very much, but if you are going with a FMS or anything like that you should be very happy with that choice.

[#Rekd™]

No personal experience but I would buy one if I had the chance.

 

Some info here:

 

http://www.emastercam.com/board/topic/76620-makino-ps95-v-doosan-dnm-500/?fromsearch=1

[GoetzInd]

I've bought a couple and have a few more on the way. Very solid accurate machines with good support. However, I don't think you could go wrong with Okuma or Matsuura either. 

 

Mike

[The Cathedral]

I work for an Okuma distributor so my opinion is slightly biased. That being said I prefer Okuma because of the control, however Makino would be my second choice for sure. Beyond that I if I didn't need any fancy control stuff and just wanted a good workhorse of a horizontal I would consider OKK. Working for a distributor I get into a lot of shops and hear a lot of people's opinions. Makino's are are almost always spoken highly of. 

 

I love Okumas--we have 11 Okuma lathes, 3 multi-task machines, and 1 HMC. But we've always kept the vertical department separate (with the exception of the HMC) and ran Daewoo (pre-Doosan) machines. They've been rock solid and now one of our oldest is giving us fits. The company we use for sales/support doesn't distribute Doosan anymore, so we have to broaden our horizons. We are a job shop so we need a machine that can do everything from high precision aerospace parts down to drilling a hole with .060 tolerance.

 

Good machines and made very well. The lower quality models made to compete with HAAS I don't like very much, but if you are going with a FMS or anything like that you should be very happy with that choice.

 

What ones do you consider lower quality? While I'd love to have the top of-the-line with all the bells and whistles, it's not realistic for what we do. I'm just starting out on investigating these machines so any info you can give would help tremendously.

[THEE THAINZ™]

Never ran a MAKINO but CALLIN Bob Wolcott oh Bob what's your take on MAKINO'S?

 

  Go to you tube and look up Makino's and tie Bob's name to it. You'll get a ton of worth while videos.

[jeff]

I love Okumas--we have 11 Okuma lathes, 3 multi-task machines, and 1 HMC. But we've always kept the vertical department separate (with the exception of the HMC) and ran Daewoo (pre-Doosan) machines. They've been rock solid and now one of our oldest is giving us fits. The company we use for sales/support doesn't distribute Doosan anymore, so we have to broaden our horizons. We are a job shop so we need a machine that can do everything from high precision aerospace parts down to drilling a hole with .060 tolerance.

 

 

Why not stick with Okuma? The Genos M560 vmc's are pretty damn good.

Big plus, 15k, 30hp, 1,200ipm feed,gantry,Hi-cut pro, etc..

[RaiderX]

Have worked with many machines in my 30+ years and Okuma, Makino and Matsuura rank at the top not in any specific order. sounds to me that Okuma lends a heavy hand in your shop just because standardization has some value but I do not think you would be at all disapointed with Makino.

[The Cathedral]

Why not stick with Okuma? The Genos M560 vmc's are pretty damn good.

Big plus, 15k, 30hp, 1,200ipm feed,gantry,Hi-cut pro, etc..

 

Various reasons that would require another thread.

 

So far I've gathered that these are pretty good machines! Is anybody running them in a 3+2 configuration with full 5th axis? If so, what brand trunnion/rotary are you using and how easy is the interface?

[YoDoug®]

We have a customer running an M560 with a Koma 3+2 table. They like it and have very little issues. I know it is one of the smaller Koma models as the Z height on a standard M560 does not lend well to a tall rotary. You can however get an M560 with a 200mm column riser if you want a bigger trunnion style 3+2. I would suggest staying with Koma or Nikken as they have the most interfaces for Okumas. I prefer Koma if I am choosing.

[mkd]

Various reasons that would require another thread.

 

It's your thread, lay it on us.

 

okuma lathe shop thinking going makino vertical seems la bit unexpected.

Seems like the M560 has the best performance package with the price listed on website. Or is this just the best marketing?

[Mic6]

Various reasons that would require another thread.

 

So far I've gathered that these are pretty good machines! Is anybody running them in a 3+2 configuration with full 5th axis? If so, what brand trunnion/rotary are you using and how easy is the interface?

 

D500

[Redfire427]

I have run Makino's from a wide spectrrum of models for the last 12 years. We currently have 6 verticals that are very reliable and accurate workhorses. You can't go wrong. I also have a lot of experience with Okuma and they are also top notch. It really boils down to dealer support in the end.

 

Carmen

[The Cathedral]

It's your thread, lay it on us.

 

okuma lathe shop thinking going makino vertical seems la bit unexpected.

Seems like the M560 has the best performance package with the price listed on website. Or is this just the best marketing?

 

Dealer support is the main reason. If I were to make another thread, it would be called, "How You Know When Your Support Techs Are #$(&(*#*)&@)(*^)heads." Our Doosan guys might not have shiny new vans, but they get the job done quick and they get it done right, sometimes same day service. That makes all the difference in long term viability, especially in this world of JIT manufacturing.

[Bob W.]

Never ran a MAKINO but CALLIN Bob Wolcott oh Bob what's your take on MAKINO'S?

 

  Go to you tube and look up Makino's and tie Bob's name to it. You'll get a ton of worth while videos.

I keep buying them and that says a lot.  I have only owned two brands of machine tool, Haas and Makino.  Haas gave me a good reason to test the waters with another brand and Makino hasn't.  I have nothing but good things to say about Makino and each machine I have bought was better than the last, rather than cheaper due to cost saving measures.  Little inconveniences fixed, issues improved, etc...  It is impressive because you don't typically see that these days.  There are only a few other brands I would even look at and these include Matsuura and Okuma.  Not to say there aren't others, but these fit the work I do the best.

[FROZEN]

Makino

 

Enough said.

[Ewood42]

I've only ever seen A51s in action, but for what we did at that shop they were fantastic. Consistently accurate, good rigidity, and very reliable. Held tenths all day and night. In the two years I worked there, the Makino cell was only ever down due to issues with the pallet changer/storage system behind the cell... well, and that one time one of my idiot co-workers forgot to draw in all his stock/fixtures when running parts on all 4 sides of a tombstone and smashed the spindle into a vise in full rapid. 

[The Cathedral]

Stay tuned for the next couple weeks. I might have some machine pr0n to post. 

[The Cathedral]

Anybody have a source for a proven and reliable post processor for the Makino Professional P controls? I've reached out to In House. Anyone using one from them or another supplier? 

[#Rekd™]

Check with Bob Wolcott to see what he is using.

 

I assume Postabilty will have one. http://www.postability.ca/