Moderately priced 4th axis?

[Liberty_Machine]

I'm looking at adding a 4th axis to my Kitamura MyCenter 3XD. Something with an 8" table, 150/160mm center height (if need be, a riser could get me there), decent clamping torque (off center mill/drilling). It does need to be an integrated 4th, as the chance of catastrophe is quite high with some of my employees..
I've gotten prices on Koma, and should have pricing on Kitagawa today. I've not sought out Nikken, but I expect them to be higher than the other two I've mentioned.

I'm not in a huge rush for one, but would like a solution by early March.

So, what have you fine folks seen and what are your best/worst experiences? Not looking to pinch pennies, also not looking to throw extra money at Option A when Option C get's me 80-90% of the way there

 

[RJT]

I've been happy with Samchully (sp?) with our Doosan / Fanuc 5700 and 5700S machines.

 

[Liberty_Machine]

Oh, and the Kitamura is a Mitsubishi drive

 

[Orange Vise]

How about Yukiwa?

They're popular with the Brothers.

 

[Liberty_Machine]

That's not a name I've heard before, do you have experience with them?

 

[DavidScott]

If a Brother 4th could work then there would be no reason to look else where. Price is good and it's a roller drive.

 

[Mtndew]

Tsudakoma in my book is the best.

 

[alliancefab]

Tsudakoma in my book is the best.

+1

 

[BROTHERFRANK]

If a Brother 4th could work then there would be no reason to look else where. Price is good and it's a roller drive.

The Brother rotary only works on Brother machines. The Yukiwa rotaries are great, not sure about install/support on Kit with Mits. I think the brands you mentioned (Koma, Kitagawa, Nikken...) should get you where you want to be. My suggestion is check with Kit and see who they recommend and if any options or hardware is required from them. Any rotary you consider I would ask if they have installed on your type of machine before and ask for references. I would not want to be the beta tester for someone.

 

[TKassoc]

Another vote for Tsudakoma. I've had two RWE 4th axis and two RTT-111 5-axis tables and they have all been flawless. If you are just doing positioning go with the RWE instead of the heavier models. Most of them are the same casting and bearing with the heavier models using a bigger worm screw. With the brake on there won't be any difference.

 

[Pete Deal]

A feature I would look for is one with a pressurized gear box. I had a yuasa that came with a machine ( don’t recommend) and it had coolant in it. I have a Yukiwa that came with a Brother mill I bought. The machine had been used hard but the oil in the 4th was nice and clean. This one has compressed air purge. My other Brother machine has the Brother roller 4th and this summer I bought the $500 bucket of oil they recommend for it and changed the oil. It had a slight trace of coolant cloudiness in it. I don’t think it’s air purged.

 

[Mud]

I've had zero trouble with a Koma(Tsudakoma) 200 (8"). Having said that I use an Erickson 600 air indexer 20X more often than the 4th axis - much easier setup and cleanup,

 

[Vancbiker]

Yukiwa has been making rotaries for at least 25 years. In the mid 90s they were spec’d on some Mori models with Mitsu servos.

 

[Houndogforever]

I got a Sankyo with my speedio. It's been great for 7 years.