I haven't been on this site too often, but I am interested in opinions on various CNC Mill and Lathe builders. Is there any place to find a "Consumer Reports" type of ratings for machine tools? If not, is there a forum specifically for discussing opinions and supporting data about different machines?
My reason for this review should be obvious, but here is our rough history. We are a small job shop and like many, we struggle to remain competitive. We've had excellent experience buying top shelf machines (Mori-Seiki, Okuma, OKK, Miyano (1 problem Miyano), Tsugami). Three times we purchased lower tier machines (Bridgeport CNC's, Daewoo CNC lathe) with disappointing results.
Buying the top shelf machines comes with high monthly payments, so the answer is not simply to keep buying them. We lost a lot of work trying to compete our Mori SV50 against competition with a smaller Haas. Still, my guys talk me out of buying Haas or Korean machines based on the reputation of having potential problems.
We are now shopping for a live tool lathe and the price range is very wide. We can't afford to make a mistake with such a big purchase.
If there are no specific forums for the above information, I'll take any feedback from people with good or bad experiences on any CNC Mills or Lathes.