After reading all of these Posts regarding the I.H. Mill I am SO GLAD I didnt buy one thanx Guys
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After reading all of these Posts regarding the I.H. Mill I am SO GLAD I didnt buy one thanx Guys
????
I am be reading a different forum than you.
I see onesy twosy sorts of things, but nothing that is a sweeping condemnation of Charter Oak, or that would make me not purchase from them.
What am I missing?
I have followed the IH saga for the last 7 years or so. Sometimes it is was maybe a little like a soap opera, but definitely was never like some of the other importer issues seen here.
EDIT: hmm, looks like you haven't posted in a while. Maybe you were referring to some of the issues that occurred under the previous owner, they went through a rough patch when the owner (Gene) died.
Primarily after seeing other peoples 3000 dollar cnc conversions of Chinese Equipment and considering some light Production in my shop Id be foolish to not buy a Older Machine with Toolchanger. Far more solid and better surface finish. The Fadec is nice for a smaller home shop unit. Otherwise chinese is just what it is. Thanx Mike
All of my posts about problems with CNC upgrades were related to IH. Charter Oak has done an excellent job in fixing IH mistakes at no cost to me.
Converting machines is something people do as a hobby. If your machinery needs to provide you with a primary income stream, then you should be looking for a turn-key solution, so you can be focused on building and selling a product and growing your business. That is true regardless of the source of the base machine. While the original IH offered some distinct advantages over perhaps its RF45 grandfather, it also brought the typical cheap Chinese machinery weaknesses with it. I don't think the problems described here were any different than the problems expressed by every other lobbyist who converted an RF clone machine.Quote:
Originally Posted by madman
At the end of the day, you need a company that is large enough that is marketing enough machinery for them to hold the Chinese manufacturers feet to the fire and force the quality output that you have contracted to receive. Dad & Son businesses (like Tommy and Gene of IH) don't have the resources to pay for a full time inspector in country, or to travel repeatedly to inspect each batch prior to shipment.... or even to uncrate, do receipt inspections, and refuse delivery of substandard work.
Hopefully CO will be able to solve that piece of the puzzle, as it sounds like maybe their have partnered with Weiss or someone else for in-country inspections. Even that is a solution that needs constant attention... look at Grizzly, with millions $$$ of machinery getting imported, with a team of inspectors on site and willing to play hardball with their manufacturer... they still fight a battle every single day.
Unfortunately looks like FADEC is not currently a viable business. Dave Decaussin seems to have gone on to other things (cnc retrofit kits for G0704).Quote:
Originally Posted by madman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nev9...NP1D07BmjX1Fgw
Supposedly one of his partners (Gary Frolka) was going to upgrade the UMC-10 and continue to sell it, but their website no longer exists, and they have posted no updates (or responses to inquiries for 5 months or so on their Facebook or google+ pages. Too bad, they had a nice looking set of machines for a very reasonable price point. Especially amazing since their weren't Chinese retrofits, but US built from the ground up.
They may have found out the hard way that you cannot rely on people who say " If it was made in USA I would buy one". Especially on these internet forums where talk is free and there is no face to face interaction.
I don't think in Dave Decaussins case he has not sold his mills, I think he has a product that's out of the price range of his intend target. Took him a while to see that and he mentioned the mills are going to job shoppers, not the thousands of home hobby you tube watchers among us. I don't think he wants to be in the large manufacturing business again but like to dabble in the stuff he knows so well, hence the smaller mill at a smaller price. I do know he inspires me to get more from my mill and I'm currently dumping more dollars in it to do just that.
Bob
Would this be of your interest? for sure is a blast making parts on.....wow!