Looking at purchasing a New Hurco VM1.

[A.Delaney]

I’m looking for opinions or experiences with Hurco quality and service. Also opinions about this machine vs other Hurco VM series machines. Other machine brands aren’t out of the question. The Hurco just seems to fit what we are looking for.

We do small lot and one off job shop parts. Mostly mild steel with some tool steels. We don’t have have CAD or any other similar software. We program conversational at the machine. We have no experience with G Code. This would be our next step up from a Prototrak RX5. Really what I’m after is the tool changer. It would be our first machine with a tool changer. What I am hoping to achieve is reducing machine time with some of the parts we make. We are also very limited on space. The VM1 will barely fit. My only other thought was to look at a Prototrak tool room VMC. Since we are familiar with the programming. There wouldn’t be much of a learning curve.

 

[rklopp]

I am eager to see responses, as I am in a similar market for a VMC. I recall that the Trak VMCs are tall enough to present a problem at least for getting it in my building. VM One is short enough. Others on my list are Doosan DEM 4000, Bridgeport V710 or V480, and a Fryer linear bearing VMC. Since you have no CAM, you might not like the machines with vanilla Fanuc controls compared to conversational controls like Hurco, Trak, or Fryer. I recommend you take a hard look at getting up to speed with CAM, e.g., by trialing Fusion 360.

 

[BT Fabrication]

i havent personally owned one, but only heard good things about them.

as for cam, spend the $8000 and get mastercam. fusion 360 works but then it doesn't, like cant work without an internet connection and the cloud based junk.

 

[DavidScott]

Fusion will work for 2 weeks without an internet connection and you can set it so anything you have worked on in the last year is stored locally. I too would say learn cad/cam and Fusion 360 has been my pick for the last 9? years. There have been some horror posts about Hurcos here so not everything said about them is roses. Once you get used to a real VMC you won't look back. Tool changers and fully enclosed to keep the coolant and chips in are just a few of the benefits. If at all possible get a probe and tool setter, they will pay for themselves many times over in the life of the machine.

 

[A.Delaney]

Any thoughts on the VM1 vs the VM10? It’s seems as though they are the same size machine. The VM10 has more hp. Wondering how much more machine you get for the money.

 

[rklopp]

Any thoughts on the VM1 vs the VM10? It’s seems as though they are the same size machine. The VM10 has more hp. Wondering how much more machine you get for the money.

The VM10i has 6" more Z travel, 8 more tools in the changer, 4000 more RPM, and about 25% more torque than the VM ONE (the official name).

 

[huleo]

I'd be real interested to know the pricing on both. Can PM me if want to keep private. Personally, I would go towards the VM10 easily because of the extra Z and tool cap. Does not sound like you will need the 12k spindle, but it can bring rewards with small cutters or if you get into softer materials. It also adds serious resale value. No one wants an 8K spindle! They want faster to use modern tooling.

I agree with above though, you need to modernize with CAM programming. I took this plunge a LONG time ago, convinced conversational was the way to the future. NOT! Once you walk down the path, you will NEVER look back! You might be one of those shops that has such silly easy parts that it can work, but if they are that easy, I can probably program them before that machine even completes a warm up cycle.

 

[A.Delaney]

The difference is substantial. Base price. 55k vs 78k. I'm figuring at least another 10-15k in basic options for either machine.

 

[jraksdhs]

I recently got a 2004 Vm1. It was my first experience with cnc of any kind. I started off using the conversational control but quickly realized that fusion was the way to go. Im sure the new winmax stuff is good, but i just felt like it was easier to learn fusion for simple parts so that more complex stuff just gave me more experience. Im a job shop like you. Short run, prototype stuff, one off assemblies, all materials. I decided the best way for my work flow was to have a set number of standard tools and try and program with those tools. Since im not worried about cycle time or banging parts out quickly, having a general purpose tool versus one that is special just works better. Of course drills and taps are different. I dont keep those set up. I just keep a 10 tool numbers set aside for those when i need them. If it were me and I was looking new, i'd go the biggest work envelope and spindle rpm i could afford. Probe, tool setter, and TSC would be options I say are automatic. And just to be clear, I dont have any of those on my machine. My next machine will though.

 

[Sam I]

Personally I wouldn't buy another HURCO. I have a HAAS lathe and HURCO mill. I find the control on the HAAS more intuitive and it appears to come with more features built in to the control. I have probing on the HURCO for instance but I need to blow another £6-8k to be able to integrate the probing with CAM software. That comes as standard on the HAAS if probing is purchased as far as I can tell. I did get a quote for a HAAS and while the base price was more expensive, by the time you added up all the options on the HUCO they were very similar.

I program almost exclusively with Fusion 360 so I can't comment on the conversational side other than that you need to pay extra for the "NC merge" option on HURCO if you want to mix and match programming styles.

It has however been a reliable machine and the phone support here in the UK is good (better than HAAS in my opinion).

Maybe speak to some reps and see if you can get hands on with one of their machines. When I bought the HAAS lathe I had both HAAS and DOOSAN offer cutting demos along with demos of the controls etc so I'm sure HURCO would offer similar.

 

[m_mcgranahan]

Hi,
I have had 3 hurcos and I love them. Their conversational programming is awesome, And if get one with a WinMax 5 controller it's even better than the winmax 4 that I currently use. When I do have to do something complicated I have my son draw a DXF file on fusion 360 and then do a DXF transfer and do the programming at the machine. I have only ever bought used machines and 2 times the machines had problems right out of the gate but their Tech Support was willing to help me diagnose and solve the problems over the phone. One note, most of their software options run about $1500 plus each So if you're buying new make sure to negotiate for every option you think you might ever want because it's cheaper that way. My 2008 VMX24 is a beast of a machine, and it just makes parts day and day out whenever I need it.