[Gunner]

I have a salesman friend selling Daewoo Lathes. I've been sceptical of a purchase based on my inability to get any long term feedback. I know Daewoo has definitely moved up as I believe they are now the number three builder in the world. We run primarily Mori lathes and mills. As most shops know, Mori's are long lasting quality machines but, you pay for it. It seems to me that you get quite a bang for your buck with a Daewoo and I'm wondering how their longevity is. I would be interested in any feedback from someone having experience with a lathe over five years old.

Thanks,

[skippy]

Did you know that Daewoo is now owned by General Motors? A Daewoo Nubira (car) here (Europe) is now called a Chevrolet Nubira.

[ScottG]

Daewoo was recently purchased by Doosan, another Korean manufacturer. The line of cars is a completely different business. GM never owned them.

[machintek]

I was told that recently Daewoo became the world's number one seller of lathes. Their mills are probably the best bang for the buck out there just like the lathes. Better yet is that their product support (tech support and parts) is also some of the best I have seen. I have been in field service for over 20 years, and ran a shop with Daewoos from 1987 to 1990. We have been a Daewoo distributor in the southeast for the last 5 years and I am the service manager. I would not hesitate to buy one myself.

George

[Gunner]

Thanks for the feedback. I don't know if what I've heard is enough to justify a purchase yet though. I know the local dealer up here has made a vast improvement on service over the "other" machines he handled. I'm mainly concerned with the newer CNC Lathes and the longevity of them. I've always lived by the "You get what you pay for" philosophy, especially in the machine field. It always seems the cheaper machines do all right at the beginning but 5-10 years down the road they don't seem to hold up and you can't get anything for them in trade. I like to avoid a situation like that if at all possible.

[spottiepop]

Gunner I don't know if you are still wanting info. on the Daewoo's or not but we have 7 of them ranging from a HMC to 2 axis lathes, we are in the process of trying to buy another Puma 400MB. These are pretty sound machine tools for the money and if I was going to fault them it would be the lathe spindle bearings we have replaced all of them in the 4 turning centers that we have at about 5 yrs of service, but we run alot of cast iron and it's rough on machine tools.

[Gunner]

Thanks for the feedback. We had a little setback on our lathe purchase so we have more time for research. Business picked up on the machine we had slated for trade-in and we had to put it back in service. Not a bad problem at all but we were looking forward to finding a new lathe. I guess if spindle bearings are all I have to worry about at 5 plus years of service the savings on the initial purchase are worth it.

[endmill]

I am currently in a shop with 2 older Daewoo lathes. I will give them a very high recommendation. They are very good machine tools

[Gunner]

Thanks Endmill,
Is there anything specific that you like or dislike? Here are a few questions I'd ask a long time user. How is the repeatability compared to when you first got the machines? If you required service, were they responsive and thorough? Have you had repetitive problems with the machines (the same problem more than once)? How do your operators, programmer, and setup people feel about the machines? Do you shy away from machining difficult materials on the machines, if so, why? I could go on, but I don't want you to think this is a test... It will be a while before we start our quest for a new lathe so we can ponder on these questions for a while.
Thanks again Endmill.

[endmill]

I can't comment on how they are compared to new. I inhereted them with a new business. The controlls are sparse (no options) I rercently had some variables opened up for programming purposes. They have older Fanuc controlls 10T there is no maint. contract, we do all in house. I have recently looked at some new Daewoos through a dealer in my area. The unit I saw was shaking like a dog pooping peach pits. It was also not tied down? Why I don't know. I recently bought and put into service a DMV 5025 mill. We are very happy with it. service has been excellent. A tool change motor went out. We were shipped a new one, no questions, no cost.

[Gunner]

Now Endmill, that's what I call a very graphic and detailed reply! I was squeezing my cheeks just reading it! Who would feed their poor dog peach pits! I'm still chuckling! Thanks again.