4 Advice to Choose a Siemens cnc parts

No matter which of the complete range of machining technologies you use, they all have three things in common: SINUMERIK allows you to save time when setting up the machine tool, supports configuring with SINUMERIK Open Architecture, and individual extension in SINUMERIK Operate.

I was looking into purchasing a machine for our shop that will work for job work and machining a variety of materials.

I am trying to replace an ageing 3 axis Bridge type CNC mill with a Siemens control. It has a max RPM of and an X axis rapid of mm/min. Bed size is x 800 mm and Z axis stroke is 800 mm.

We mainly machine large parts for the cement industry (made of alloy steel at 22-26 HRc), split pump casings made out of duplex and some large aluminium molds every 2 months.

I was thinking of replacing the machine with something that is more compact but with the same or higher capacity. (ofcourse much more modern also). Specs wise, we need atleast an 8k or 10k spindle with a tool changer, high pressure through coolant and minimum or 110 Nm of torque along with 40m/min.

One machine that came into my mind was the DMG DMF260 or DMF180. I somewhat meets the requirements and then also has 5 axis capabilities for 5 sided machining of heavy components and I can do horizontal machining for long parts. Anyone have any experiences with it? How is the reliability and accuracy? How easy is it to use? Any issues with tool changer or Preventive maintenance activities? Anything I should be aware of?

Any other machines you guys have experience with that you would recommend?

FYI - only looking at machines with FANUC or SIEMENS Controls. Well to be honest, machine cost to performance ratio really matters. We supply precision components to major oil and gas companies and other OEMs.

We compete on price , quality/delivery perf and capability. Most of our customers have their own shops and can do the work too but need suppliers for special jobs or keep up with demand.

If we cant compete in price, we dont get the order at all. We compete with US, Europe and India on price.

Also your impression of Dubai is exactly the kind that most people have. Its totally not like that. Ive lived here my whole life of 30 yrs.

I saw a Doosan VCF 850 also for sale and seems to be similar in capability. Any thoughts? @msayani2 - I know zilch about oil/gas or the related industries, but I have used a 5-axis machine for some time, and studied them a great deal.

My first advice to you is that for ANY machine, you get enough drawings of it to make a CAD model (assembly) with constraints on machine motions - and then see if typical parts WITH THE REQUIRED fixturing, will fit in the machine.

The doosans you point to seem so large and capable one might thing "well surely any of our parts will fit in there" - and then you come to find that a rotary C table that's not flush with the base table causes a lot of grief, or getting the head close enough to the table when it's rotated over sideways (B-90° say) is an issue.

These things can be surprizing and drive you nuts.

Secondly, the support you can get *IN DUBAI* *FOR THE CONFIGURATION YOU BUY* matters a lot. Doosan is famously one of (or the) largest buyer of Fanuc controls in the world - but I see some of their 5ax machines have Heidenhain controllers (as does my DMU 60) Which controller do you want? How well is Doosan set up to support that controller on the machine you want?

Most people seem to like Doosans, if they have good experiences with the local support. I think you should start by looking at what companies have a presence in your area / country. The capabilities / rpm / power / precision don't matter if it is broken and you can't get parts or service. DMG, Mazak, Okuma, Toyoda, Doosan, .... whatever all make a better more capable more modern machine than what you are using now so any one would be an upgrade. Find a few reputable Machine tool builders that have committed themselves to your market / country and start a dialogue. Visit shops that use their machines even if it's not the same machine, also don't ask the owner how well supported the product is, ask the machinist running it. Well.. we will be machining mostly steel ; cast iron and Duplex SS castings.

Required rpm is 15,000 and it should have a torque of minimum 300 Nm or higher. requires scales fitted in x, y, z minimu..Very High stability and reliability with capability to hold half a thousand of an inch all day long every day for the next 10 yrs.(positional accuracy). Scales in 4th axis(B axis) is a must as at times we make quite a few spur gear for customers and we may want to venture into power skiving in the future.

This gives an idea of what we are looking at.

I looked at makino due to reliability and matsuura for the same. I dont know what has been the experience of most of you all. Dmg mori seems to be giving lots of reliability issues from what i heard from a few who have used them. Uptime seems to be a problem even though they are seemingly well built and have decent power.

Okuma was another choice as well.

Power reqmt - 40hp or more.

Control system - modern seimens 840D control or fanuc 31i or later. Haindenhain is out of the question as there is no support at all in the middle east.