Hello Everyone and Happy Holidays :

I am a new member so I hope I'm in the correct forum?!
I work in a machine shop lab and we design and fabricate one-of-kind medical instruments for either research(on lab animals) or clinical(will be use on patients). We don't deal with fabricating high volumes of components. The most we ever done was 100 pcs. of a medical device. Our projects can range from the simple(a rectangular part with a few holes in it) to the very complex with high accuracy( +-.0002"). My supervisor got the go ahead to purchase a new CNC machine to replace our old one that failed after 15 years of service. Since many of the components that we make contain many features and require multiple operations to complete, my supervisor decided on a carousel-type automatic tool changing VMC. The dealer that my supervisor is talking with suggested two machines: a>Chevalier Falcon-1418VMC-plus with a Fanuc 0i model B controller, b> Kira PC-30EA with a Fanuc 21i series controller with options to upgrade to the Fanuc 16i or 18i controllers. I am not familiar with either of these machines. I have heard of the Fanuc controllers but have never worked on one. My questions to the forum members are:

Has anyone had experience with either of these VMC machines?
How would you rate the Chevalier from the Kira: ease of set-up, dependability, accuracy?
With the standard "out-of-box" features that comes with the machine, were you satisfied or did you have to purchase more options in order to meet your requirements?
The Fanuc 0i MB controller versus the Fanuc 21i controller? How easy it is to program a part on the controller? How about the Fanuc 16i or 18i?

Any suggestions, advice, or experiances(good or bad) with any of these machines will be very helpful and appritiated! I have to add that since our shop is located on the basement height is an issue, the ceiling height is 98 inches. Thanks to everyone in advance.

Cordially,

ricardog