Hey everybody, why hasn't an American machine tool builder made a CNC Swiss machine? You would think at least Haas would have come out with one.
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Why hasn't an American machine tool builder made a CNC Swiss?
(7 posts) (7 voices)-
Posted 1 year ago #
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To be completely honest, American machine tool builders seem to be doing less and less.. but I'm sure eventually... something's gotta give. Although... I was talking with a technician the other day and he was working on a Korean CNC Swiss machine - a Nexturn - and it was the first time he'd ever been in one (he worked for Star for years) and said he was thoroughly amazed with it. Although the exterior was Korean the insides were GE Fanuc through and through. The shell was Korean but a good deal of the parts were American. Maybe that's as close as we can get for now.. Haha
Posted 1 year ago # -
Interesting... I worked for Citizen years back, and I can't recall seeing an American made swiss center. It seems true, though, that components throughout the machines come from all over the world.
Posted 1 year ago # -
When I ran the old cam machines back in the late 70s and 80s Tornos was the main machine- Petermann too. -Made in the 40s and 50s--still running today.
However of late I don't hear a lot of good things about there CNCs
(TORNOS)and I ran a couple that were a big PITA.
Most american machines were multispindles and the single spindles didn't hold as well as an old swiss.
Now The Asians have some of the better machines--Haas iss known for Mills--Why go after a different market when you already have a good one.
TRRPosted 1 year ago # -
The cost to get into such an endevor is higher than most other machine tool construction. The initial payback is very long. Buisness capitalization and return on investment for such a critical type of machine tool construction is valued differently in other markets. I think both Star and Citizen are owned by the same banks. They were able to grow into prominence by competing with the europians in a battle played out over decades. This was at a time when our machine tool builders were in a tailspin. K&T, Bridgeport, Pratt and Whitney, Cincinatti, Acme, Davenport, Hardinge, MHP, the list goes on and on, all were not finance or managed for long term gain. Some small builders gave it a go, Futuristics is one example. A small firm with a dream. They were crushed by the imports. without the long term financing in place Futuristics never had a chance.
At this point our form of an open buisness model with "equal" competition by all is not all that equal. I find that other countries will help important builders get started and developed with market restrictions and long term financing. The Korians, Tiawanise, Chinese and Indians have large enough markets to sell to locally without as much free market competition as we allow here. We won't have a swiss type builder in the state, ever!
Posted 1 year ago # -
Recently, i met the Dean of the University of Technology in Taiwan. He was working with Mitsubishi to upgrade the Y axis speed so less non-cut time is used.. It seems the Asian's are more interested in time savers inovation than American's.. we're too engrossed in what others produce, than what can still be invented..Remember the ECom 4 spindle 4MM CNC machine shown in Chicago Trade Show a few years ago... it disappeared from the market.. imagine that.. a working multi-spindle CNC with live cross tools, drilling, tapping, milling on independant Z slides..and it disappears from the market? hmmm Where are our brilliant new generation guys who can dream and then build the dream.....
Posted 1 year ago # -
As TMW's February 2009 How It Works article on Swiss CNC noted, the machines have become more powerful than ever, with more tools, more options and more sophisticated controls. It's time for American machine tool builders to reexamine the machine.
Posted 1 year ago #
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