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Japanese Machines made in Japan?

Houdini

Titanium
Joined
Nov 28, 2017
I have been looking at Japanese company machines, but seems most of the machines aren't made in Japan.
Does anyone know what Japanese machine builders still manufacture their machines in Japan?
 
As a rule they all still manufacture machine tools in Japan but some models will be built in other countries or in undisclosed locations. It is a model thing. The distributor should be completely transparent about which models. For sure a builder employee will be.
 
I don't know if theres any rule of thumb, but as for makino, as far as I know (and I'm not a makino expert, we have a 20 year old a88):

The V series I believe are made in japan, while the S series are made in singapore. At least, I know i've read that somewhere. so if you're looking between an S33 and V33, that's one difference.

If I'm wrong, someone who actually knows can chime in.

I'm sure most of makino's higher end stuff like horizontals are probably (all?) made in Japan.

2005 Kitamura hx400 has a japan nameplate on it, also.
 
The Mori machines of DMG Mori are still made in Japan. At least the more fancy ones.
I know the cheaper Okuma lathes are not made in Japan.
 
The Mori machines of DMG Mori are still made in Japan. At least the more fancy ones.
They build quite a bit in Davis, CA for the US market. The CMX and NHX series are built here.

Supply chains are big and complex. Some of the small builders are still located entirely in Japan, but all the bigger companies have factories all over the planet.

One of my customers just took delivery of a "MORI" NMV5000 that was built in Switzerland.
 
The Mori machines of DMG Mori are still made in Japan. At least the more fancy ones.
I know the cheaper Okuma lathes are not made in Japan.
I believe the Genos series, lathes and mills, are assembled elsewhere. I believe there are several key parts that are still made in Japan, not sure on the castings themselves.
 
My wife's girlfriend is Japanese and her family is still in Japan. They have factories in China. I have never asked about her family's business, but she, the girlfriend is quick to tell what poor products, skills, and people come from China.

I have no qualms about Chinese people, likely they are as skilled as any other people.
 
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I've had 2 Japanese mazaks (M5 and slant550) 4 Kentucky and 1 Singapore mazak. There are some subtle differences but no much really, I still have 3 Kentucky and the one from Singapore, we got out of the "big" work.
 
On topic because about quality of Made in China products.
We were at the Indianapolis ATA sports show with our deer blind (Slayer Outdoor Products) and another deer blind company was there with a try-to-copy our blind. Our deer blind is modular with an aluminum welded frame for each of 5 walls, The China-made had very poor wealds and the camo was a shin/sheet of camo, already peeling off. The owner of the other company was yelling swear words at the Chinese fellow, the owner of the China big company.
A cute little Chinese girl/lady was interpreting the bad words and that It was really comical, she seemed embarrassed saying such words..
She later came over to our booth and said Mr whatever is a very important Man, He has many factories and can make whatever you need for a very good price. I was polite and thanked her for her card.
Oh, the deer blind company is for sale because with Sensations Memory Care Residence in Charlott Mi both companies are becoming more than my son-in-law wishes to handle..The Slayer deer blind is well known with the Safari Club International (SCI) in Michigan and other big hunting outfits. I think in the ballpark of $200K for the deer blind company. It is likely the best deer blind on the market at this time.
 
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What threw me into this was getting a quote on the GF Micron Mill E500, It was at the top of my list then the rep said it was Swiss Engineered but "Made in China"
Yeah, No. I don't care if its the best machine on the planet.
In our current consumer state of everything being cheap and everything being made in China,
and the machining industry hasn't gone down that road of everything made in China, and I'm not going to push or help it that direction.
My shop doesn't have anything Made in China, And never will.
 
I'm shopping for a new auto band saw and was surprised/disappointed that the Amada saw I'm looking at is made in China. Daito is still made in Japan, and the price reflects that. I am still considering the Amada, but I don't feel great about it.
 
I'm shopping for a new auto band saw and was surprised/disappointed that the Amada saw I'm looking at is made in China. Daito is still made in Japan, and the price reflects that. I am still considering the Amada, but I don't feel great about it.
I just ordered a Hydmech H-14A, made in Canada, But we really needed it because I don't like the coolant spray mess from an open bandsaw, and it had a 600 SFM option for actually cutting Aluminum, and our current production is all Aluminum.
 
The Okuma Genos series is assembled in (I think) Taiwan. But most of the castings and the components are Japanese, so I was told.
Genos are built in Taiwan by Tatung, I’m 100% sure on this. Tatung is a company that is famous in country for their rice cookers, every house hold owns a green Tatung rice cooker. would be highly skeptical of casting shipped from Japan to Taiwan for machine building. From everything I’ve seen it’s the exact opposite. However Taiwan has always been half decent at building verticals with Xtravels around 1000mm, 40 inches. Many Japanese brands build their verticals here to various degrees of completion or source casting here. However this doesn’t mean most Taiwanese verticals are built to the level the Genos is at.
 
My wife's girlfriend is Japanese and her family is still in Japan. They have factories in China. I have never asked about her family's business, but she, the girlfriend is quick to tell what poor products, skills, and people come from China.

I have no qualms about Chinese people, likely they are as shilled as any other people.
Actually not. Most of the factory workers are former rural peasants who were forcibly moved to the cities as part of a modernization plan. Often the only jobs they can get at first are as factory workers and if they develop further skills they usually move on to better jobs. Thus, due to constant replacement a large percentage of the factory workers tend to be low skilled and inexperienced. Working in QC we often found parts missing, parts put in backwards and other symptoms of unskilled assembly.
 
What threw me into this was getting a quote on the GF Micron Mill E500, It was at the top of my list then the rep said it was Swiss Engineered but "Made in China"
Yeah, No. I don't care if its the best machine on the planet.
In our current consumer state of everything being cheap and everything being made in China,
and the machining industry hasn't gone down that road of everything made in China, and I'm not going to push or help it that direction.
My shop doesn't have anything Made in China, And never will.
This is why I have a soft spot for my Kentucky mazaks. In my opinion some of the best "made in america" machines are still made across the river from Cincinnati. I talked to some old timers at their plant in Florence, they were all former Monarch guys.
EDIT: This was about 12 years ago now, but I do like knowing that a lot of that generational knowledge got passed on.
 
I just ordered a Hydmech H-14A, made in Canada, But we really needed it because I don't like the coolant spray mess from an open bandsaw, and it had a 600 SFM option for actually cutting Aluminum, and our current production is all Aluminum.
I talked to the rep about that same model. I could have sworn he said it was made in Italy.
 








 
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