They look pretty nice. I've only ever seen their drill presses in the USA though. But those were really nice as well. Does anyone sell them here?

You didn't mention anything about cell/production experience, in fact you mentioned prototyping. The 6 figures + I was talking about was for cell/production work.

If you are good and get into one of the good shops I'd say about 80k and up. Cost of living is through the roof, so you aren't going to be living large on 80k. Much higher wages available in Alberta then in Vancouver.

Here on the Waste Coast of Canada guys with multi axis and cell experience are making closer to or over 6 figures. Plain 3 axis stuff pays xxxx like it does anywhere else.

Lol, look how tiny those rails and trucks are.

Our lathe uses Mazaks version of VDI40, haven't run into any space issues yet, I'll take extra mass when I can.

Having multiple pallets is awesome for prototyping or production, I'd go for either the Matsuura Hplus405 or MAM72 63v, with which ever pallet system you can afford and at least 200+ tools.

Probably about 65-75% 304-321, maybe 10%aluminum, the rest 4140, Ti, Monel, Inconel etc.

You need TSC. I wouldn't go over 1xD without TSC with that drill. IF I had to I would likely peck. I know most people say no pecking in SS, I do it all the time and don't have tool life issues... You need you have oil down in the hole or else you are going to have a ton of heat on the cutting edge, especially with .008"/rev.

Something is majorly wrong. Are you doing this in a mill or lathe? You need under .001" TIR for these things, it really matters (or for any drill for that matter ) You have tsc? I just drilled over 1000" worth of 304 in my lathe with a .625" sumo cham at 250sfm and .008"/rev on one head, its a bit worn, but I plan on running another couple hundred inches or more before I swap it out. I have the most pathetic excuse for TSC, factory Mazak pump, well under 50 psi, so I do a peck about .8" in to clear the chips our before going all the full 1.125" deep.

I run about 200-250sfm with .008-.009"/rev for that size in 304.

Yeah axial pocketing can be handled with the C axis only. I'm not up to speed on new turning center pricing, so I can't help you there. I think my mid 90's sqt10ms with sub spindle, live tooling, chip conveyor, tool setter and gantry loader was around 50k. I can get a lot of parts "done in one", fairly quickly with all those features.

That really depends on what kind of milling you tend to do. If your milling is truly limited to milling a couple hexs, some slots, drill and tap some holes then Y axis isn't going to do much for you, but if you do off center radial drilling or pocketing then it is of course mandatory. If you never go above 4" (neither do I) go with the 6" chuck. My Mazak has a 6" main that goes to 6k rpm and a 5" sub spindle that does 6K as well, talk about nice for small parts, particularly if you are doing 1" sized parts.

It would be hard to beat a Mazak for your application. Mazatrol is the best setup control I have come across.

+1

What can you get out of an i80 or J300? Surely you have a couple somewhere What is a short timer?

No doubt, I saved myself 30k by broker shopping once.

To add on your first point, you could also contact a broker, and ask about the location so it can be inspected, and then search for the machine and find the shop in that area that has it... Of course you are SOL if the shop doesn't have an equipment list/website. Going through a broker isn't necessarily a bad thing or even more expensive though.

Mazak is an OK lathe, it is not in the same league as far as build quality is concerned when compared to the Nakamura. Up in the PNW, Mazak support is horrible. Ordering parts from Mazak is time consuming, they usually don't have whatever you need in stock (regardless of the fact they say they have 97% of all parts in stock ). Over the phone support from Mazak is useless. That said the Mazak machine is a lot better then their support. But talk to other shop owners in the area that own either machines, support should be one of the most important selling points. How quick do the service guys show up, do they do a good job? What is ordering parts like etc If you look at the size of the ways, ballscrews/ballscrew support bearings, spindles, turrets etc you will see everything Nakamura is just beefier. The mazatrol system on the Mazak is pretty cool for quick set up and short run parts.

Nakamura would be my first choice.

Which Imco em's, the Endura? I've used the Enduras and the powerfeeds, they are alright, priced pretty cheap iirc. The endura offered good performance but the 1/2" ones we were using vibrated the machines like crazy. And I don't mean chatter, the whole machine and floor was vibrating like, well, a vibrator I got better tool life with them then the Iscar, but not as good as the Seco, Destiny raptors, or Deboer T mills. The raptor is a neat tool, but I got better tool life with the Deboer T mill or Seco em's. I really like the Destiny aluminum cutters.

We have a bunch of Chick double vises and a few Kurt 6" single station along with a 6" double station tombstone. They are all pretty good.

I can't help, but I'd like to know how this works out for you. I have a sqt10ms that we are using Mazatrol to program currently, but we might be doing some jobs that would justify buying the MC lathe module for some more complex milling.

Very nice Makino cell. I'd love to see more, hopefully they are just busy as hell and not extinct.

On my 10-15k spindles with coolers I don't think we have ever needed to add oil, I think we exchange the oil every 1-2 years. 1L a week, I'd be concerned and looking to where it is being lost.