Makino Customer Service Letdown!

Mazak tried to get a $2500 registration fee a few years back, but rescinded the policy pretty quick.

I get that machine tool companies don’t want their high-paid application and service engineers tied up on the phone all day helping fix a machine that was bought used.

But, often the owner of that used machine tool will grow the business, and look to buy a new machine tool at some point!

And if they’ve had a good experience with the used CNC, chances are they will stick with the same brand buying new.

Mazak figured this out, and realized pretty quick a large part of their customer base is small job shops, and thus supporting them over the phone for free makes sense. High-profit part sells usually result from these support calls....

Versus Makino, who makes their money selling high-end cnc’s to mostly big OEM’s. You don’t see many older Makinos in job shops...

ToolCat

moonlight machine said:

Seems unlikely that Makino gives a rats ass if you own one. So, homebrewblob, do you have any influence on anyone that buys half million dollar machine tools? I did not think so. Why do you think Makino cares what some hillbilly has to say?

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Do you think I give a rats ass about your opinion? Hillbilly?? Ok Q-tip, I’m not your nurse so don’t give me your shit. If your Diaper needs changed cal someone who’s job it is or better yet pay the 2500$ for phone support and they may be able to talk you though cleaning up but you better hope they have some NOS diapers on the shelf or you may be shit out of luck.

I have a Makino, and must admit some aspects of Makino are less than impressive.

Everytime I have to call it's the same BS, "What's the model and serial no?"
"It's an RMC55 and the serial number is xxxxx"
"Your xxxxxxxxx"
"No I'm xxxxxxxx"
"we have you as XXXXXX"
"No that was two owners ago, this is at least the third or fourth time I've had to go thru this, you never record me as the current owner"
"Really?"
"Yes really"

I have forgotten how many times I've asked for a maintenace manual for an RMC55. I even give the parts dept the part number of the manual. Probably 3 times, never had an e-mail or call back saying "yes it's availible and it's $xxx" or even"sorry we have nothing to sell, and no way to make you a copy"

I know the manual exists as I have had pdf pages sent to me by one of their in house maintenance techs when I was rebuilding the Z-axis leadscrew.

I agree $2500 is steep for phone support, but then it's the cost of running a business sometimes, some machines come with extra burden.

On the other hand Makinos are ussually extremely reliable, extreme well made, and make very accurate parts. So you could be short sighted and say, "screw it I'm getting a xxxxxx, because they don't charge $2500 for phone support" but then you would likely be getting an inferior machine. And if it's a business, rather than a hobby shop your running, that $2500 starts to be insignificant.

jz79 said:

2500$ may sound steep if you're buying the first "real" machine, which happened to cost half a mil new, but just maybe they, as a company, simply don't want to deal with the end user, they very much prefer to deal with professional service outfits that repair few Makinos a month, and the 2500$ for an ability to get an actual engineer on the other end to tell you what/how and why starts to make a lot of sense...


it is very often very difficult for qualified engineer to troubleshoot problems on such equipment when the user at the machine has no repair and maintenance skills at all and expect to be told to jump pin X with Y to solve/bypass the problem or press button A, B and C to fix the machine

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For me that's not such a problem, although I would never attempt a deep spindle rebuild unless someone was holding a gun to my head. But does at least bolster the now more fashionable need and movement of 'Right to repair".

jz79 said:

you don't buy a S class Mercedes and expect free or nearly consultation at the factory (not even dealership) don't you?

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It's interesting (Not Mercedes) but BMW absolutely hate older BMW's still being on the road being modded by boy racers. They'd much prefer the older models to be crushed into cube as it damages the brand. I think DMG Mori at least the DMG end of thing would have a similar wish.

jz79 said:

and think from a business point of view from their end - how many service calls could a qualified engineer take during a day? including time it takes to locate the information needed regarding some 10 or 15 year old machine, do you really expect them to include that cost into price of new machines continuously?

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One of the core concepts of OP's post (Bigrsthe1 ) is the hard times / current times. Makino make $ from building and selling new machines. They need to keep on staff in essence their intellectual capital that walks out the door every evening or maybe now in the USA works remotely from home from their kitchen or couch. It's interesting there seems to a subtle shift amongst several of the MTBs to slightly different models for financing and approaches to leasing equipment and maybe shoring up better services for second hand machines. I.e. better ecosystem from everybody still being able to make parts (hook or by crook.).

jz79 said:

these are the reasons why it costs that much to get a simple answer for an expensive piece of equipment

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jz79 said:

a while ago I helped a local university to get their scanning electron microscope back running after a bodged nvram battery swap attempt, Siemens control on it, and Siemens said the'll need to fly in a tech at a cost of 3500$/day, and there is a wait time of 3-4 weeks for one to become available, I was able to get the machine up and running after half a day, dug through their documentation for the machine, found recovery floppies, the recovery batch file didn't work because one of the floppies had a bad sector and file couldn't be red, but fortunately that file wasn't missing on the machine, manually copied the missing parts and the 300 or 400k SEM was back in working order at the end of the day... that was when it was less than 6 years old as far as I remember, few years after - same issue, but this time Siemens said they don't have technicians qualified in that old control any more so they stopped supporting it at all, and offered to sell a new SEM for half a mil

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Funny when I worked at the Getty early 90's , had a buddy that had his own SEM lab, and all he ever seemed to be doing was taking the damn thing apart and putting back together ~ Always in pieces lol (somehow we did get decent imagery/ scans out of the thing + elemental analysis.).

triumph406 said:

I have a Makino, and must admit some aspects of Makino are less than impressive.

Everytime I have to call it's the same BS, "What's the model and serial no?"
"It's an RMC55 and the serial number is xxxxx"
"Your xxxxxxxxx"
"No I'm xxxxxxxx"
"we have you as XXXXXX"
"No that was two owners ago, this is at least the third or fourth time I've had to go thru this, you never record me as the current owner"
"Really?"
"Yes really"

I have forgotten how many times I've asked for a maintenace manual for an RMC55. I even give the parts dept the part number of the manual. Probably 3 times, never had an e-mail or call back saying "yes it's availible and it's $xxx" or even"sorry we have nothing to sell, and no way to make you a copy"

I know the manual exists as I have had pdf pages sent to me by one of their in house maintenance techs when I was rebuilding the Z-axis leadscrew.

I agree $2500 is steep for phone support, but then it's the cost of running a business sometimes, some machines come with extra burden.

On the other hand Makinos are ussually extremely reliable, extreme well made, and make very accurate parts. So you could be short sighted and say, "screw it I'm getting a xxxxxx, because they don't charge $2500 for phone support" but then you would likely be getting an inferior machine. And if it's a business, rather than a hobby shop your running, that $2500 starts to be insignificant.

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Thanks for chiming in with that so seems at least everybody "Muddles through" somehow.

Not perfect but...

cnctoolcat said:

Mazak tried to get a $2500 registration fee a few years back, but rescinded the policy pretty quick.

I get that machine tool companies don’t want their high-paid application and service engineers tied up on the phone all day helping fix a machine that was bought used.

But, often the owner of that used machine tool will grow the business, and look to buy a new machine tool at some point!

And if they’ve had a good experience with the used CNC, chances are they will stick with the same brand buying new.

Mazak figured this out, and realized pretty quick a large part of their customer base is small job shops, and thus supporting them over the phone for free makes sense. High-profit part sells usually result from these support calls....

Versus Makino, who makes their money selling high-end cnc’s to mostly big OEM’s. You don’t see many older Makinos in job shops...

ToolCat

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I think you've done really really well with MAZAK (hats off to you).

I kinda get the vibe that Makino may be pivoting more in the direction you outline. (Although each of their product offerings are quite specialized and discrete with very little overlap (maybe apart from their horizontals) - MAZAK have a wild and incredible zoo if not a veritable Safari-Park of different machines and "Blended" range of machining solutions.). I think they pretty much sell the most machines #1, and really OWN that middle space between price / performance. Clever design and spare parts / maintenance being a corner stone of that (as you outline @CNCToolCat ).

For Makino, many of their core industries that they normally serve are currently in precarious positions and there has been a contraction in Machine tool sales for about 3 years at least (across the board for most MTBs). Now things are very much more strained.

Makino seem a little more flexible / open minded/ hungry / forward looking (business wise), than they used to be. (Just a "Vibe" / impression.).

Homebrewblob said:

I feel like your mixing new and used machines, Makino will not support you unless you pay the 2500 from my understanding. Even then it’s a crop shoot as to weather they will actually have the parts you need, I agree there’s a lot of companies that will support you on a used machine, even grizzly will send you serial cards for 20$ not 2500$.

It’s not worth It to most ppl on the used market to pay 2500$ for phone support and I agree with that. Makino seems like they are only out for themselves and unfortunately that’s no help to us. Also translate from Japanese to English?, if I pay the 2500$ does that mean I still have to google translate what they send me? And I take note that you was able to post the needed info that the op needs even though you didn’t charge 2500$ To do so, did you pay 2500$ for that info?

End of story if you got overhead that needs 2500$ for phone support then I think you need to re-evaluate your Business practices

I don’t need to phone Makino because from what I’ve learned I will never own one thanks anyway

Also I’m curious why you think it’s a viable option for a struggling business to have to pay 2500$ to be told “sorry we dont have that part available anymore”? Seems to me they are greedy

And I bet ya if I have a friend looking into cnc machines and I tell him Makino wont do shit without 2500$ he steers clear of that machine

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Most of what you set out there is not actually how it works...

Is that you Mr. Howard ?

I hate to say it $2500 is not a lot of $ compared to everything else that has to be paid for / monthly / annual expenses. (Triumph already made that point).

The thing at least in principal about the "Scheme" is that at least if you put down the $2500 at least they are "Obliged" to give you some sort of technical support.

It used to be ["Other" MTBs / outfits] "One" knew someone that handed out their personal number and would from time to time help you out but if they retired or were re-structured or were forcibly "Merged" or were really required to justify their own existence, being overwhelmed with requests then your vital "Life line" for technical support would vanish overnight.

So at least there's a formal arrangement that can be planned around / banked on versus an informal arrangement that cannot be planned around.


One good thing about Makino is they are not that fussy about what you do with the machines if you have unusual applications (short warranty ) Hermle for example if they find out you want to do something unusual with a machine they simply won't sell it to you.

@Homebrew The left side in the panel is in Japanese and the right side of the panel (from the document) is in English. If you have digital versions of a document then using a search function will help you find LS905 or whatever relatively quickly.

Even a V33 or V33i mold capable 3 axis vertical new is a $300K proposition. Some second hand V33's and F5 etc. can be purchased for much less. so obviously $2500 to fix whatever may need a bit of TLC is a no brainer + parts (if you have the time to go down that route ~ Not without risk but worth taking a gamble on if that's the situation you are in and having formal legacy support obviously helps minimizes such risks. ).



__________________________________________________________________________________________


* I have to admit I don't subscribe to the "Us" Vs. "Them" model and sentiment. In business we are all in this together and fostering reliable relationships is the most important thing. Consistency is one thing I probably place the highest value on - hand in hand with "trust" that is actually earnt . It's a two way street. That's how business works. ~ Reliable partners.

Connecting some of the dots in this thread and what @EG had mentioned seems Makino are keen to keep their core comprehensive technical documentation close to their chest.

I.e. competitors reverse engineer various aspects of what they have designed , built and developed.

Makino traditionally has been on the cutting edge (no pun) on a lot of things and seemingly keen to not upset their relationship with Fanuc.

cameraman said:

Hermle for example if they find out you want to do something unusual with a machine they simply won't sell it to you.

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There's a funny kind-of revenge story along those lines ... the guys at Westinghouse in Sunnyvale were pretty sharp ... holding a few tenths on gears over ten feet in diameter, and so on. They had a new German machine, I think Hofler but could have been a different brand. Had a warranty call, but they wouldn't let the manufacturer see what modifications they made to improve the grinder

Caused some friction ....

Adapt or be left behind. Look at south bend. If Makino is doing great without the little guys and they are edging the field then great for them. The Chinese steal everything with no remorse and what’s funny is we still allow them to sell in our markets while stealing and due to this most companies ARE afraid of being copied and under cut.

Just to be cold cut and say 2500$ period is reflective of the business they run.
Sorry but the op bought a used machine and a lot of us me included would be starting on that exact thing a USED machine.

So I guess it’s clear they don’t care about the little guys but that’s a viable business model, look at other high corporations they often don’t care about the little guys.

I stand by what I said, if they dislike/don’t care for me then I
DONT care for them simply put, it’s not personal. So I stand my my statement, liquidate or merge and maybe then I can be considered by them even as a little guy.

I would never lie nor exaggerate but I will tell this story if I get the chance because believe me when I say knowing they charge a flat fee of 2500$ I would AVOID a Makino period as a small guy looking at a used machine

jz79 said:

you don't buy a S class Mercedes and expect free or nearly consultation at the factory (not even dealership) don't you?

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.....
ALL dealerships charge money to “diagnose” you vehicle. (Unless they really like you)
If you buy a 1985 Honda and the radio code is not present (radio locked from power failure (dead battery)) then they will give you the code FREE OF CHARGE, you don’t have to pay 250$ for them to get the code.
Also if you enquirer with nearly any manufacturers directly not dealers then they are Absolutely helpful and even will provide part numbers etc because that usually means they will make a sale (and some profit) on parts.
BMW Absolutely HATES used cars, the 2005 325i (I think) in 2014ish I had needed a timing chain replaced when I got it (probably abused who knows) and you know what Bmw did for me?

They told me the part numbers, told me the prices and wanted to sell me the parts.
You have to charge the OIL system WITH AIR while engine is off to operating pressure in order to time the DUAL VANOS system correctly.

I didn’t have the tools to do this at the time so I opted to have them just do it.

Guess what they said??

The chain lasts the lifetime of the engine. WE DONT SERVICE THEM.

Makino and bmw are pees in a pod

Edit: to clarify I asked them to replace the chain all together, NOT me replace the chain and them do the timing.

They straight refused to do anything with the chain. I also called 2 dealers same story.

I did find a “bmw service center” that would do the chain but they explicitly said no warranty whatsoever (on defects nor “craftsmanship” I cant remember the exact wording) and they seemed very sketchy.

Edit again: something tells me that nearly all these machine companies charge thousands to send a tech to diagnose your machine so Your comparison to a auto dealer diagnosing your car for free is laughable. EVERYONE charges diagnostics.
And even more to my point of you buy a brand new car for 15k-150k The warranty covers diagnostic and repair (as long as it’s not abuse) but does Makino STILL charge 2500$ for *Optional* phone support on a new 500k machine??? I’m honestly curious as I don’t know, do they?? Cause if they do I have even less respect for such a low blowing company, if true I feel they are just petty.

I expect that free professional support is a slippery slope. You do one person a favor, and they tell the next guy, who asks for that same favor. Easy enough, except that second guy posts on a large forum and then guys 3, 4, 5, and 20 start asking for that favor plus a half dozen others. Unfortunately some of them are members of a few big forums, and also friendly with the local shops with similar machines, and suddenly your paying customers are on hold because your techs are answering questions from "customers" they've inherited but haven't seen a dime from.

I'm on cameraman's side on this one. I'm running a business that expects to be paid for value that I'm bringing, and I expect to pay for value in return. You can certainly argue that helping the "little guy" builds brand loyalty, but it's perhaps interesting to note that a lot of the American brands that were brought up previously are less relevant now than they were in the past, while the Japanese brands charging for what they bring to the table appear to be thriving.

mutiny said:

I expect that free professional support is a slippery slope. You do one person a favor, and they tell the next guy, who asks for that same favor.

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As long as the asking guy happens to own a Leblond-Makino machining center, which kinda cuts down on the number of favors they are likely to hand out.

Plus, when that "favor" means identifying broken parts which they sell, it doesn't seem like such a big favor to me after all ....

mutiny said:

I expect that free professional support is a slippery slope. You do one person a favor, and they tell the next guy, who asks for that same favor. Easy enough, except that second guy posts on a large forum and then guys 3, 4, 5, and 20 start asking for that favor plus a half dozen others. Unfortunately some of them are members of a few big forums, and also friendly with the local shops with similar machines, and suddenly your paying customers are on hold because your techs are answering questions from "customers" they've inherited but haven't seen a dime from.

I'm on cameraman's side on this one. I'm running a business that expects to be paid for value that I'm bringing, and I expect to pay for value in return. You can certainly argue that helping the "little guy" builds brand loyalty, but it's perhaps interesting to note that a lot of the American brands that were brought up previously are less relevant now than they were in the past, while the Japanese brands charging for what they bring to the table appear to be thriving.

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I NEVER expected free ANYTHING, was only comparing to companies that do offer free help in some form. Grizzly and index for example charge 25$ to send you a copy of the serial card when your machine was built. I paid for both, I support a business paying its bills. The problem HERE for ME is Makino charges 2500$ for phone support and if you pay the 2500$ for just one broken part and they tell you it’s NO LONGER AVAILABLE then your out 2500$ for that situation, sure you may later use the phone support again for another issue but if you don’t you just paid 2500$ for NOTHING! Literally NOTHING.

How much do you make? (Rhetorical) cause I got some AIR to sell you if your spending 2500$ on nothing.

Sure 2500$ IS nothing to a company buying a brand new 500,000$ machine. But something tells me even a company spending 500k on a machine still wouldn’t throw 2500$ at nothing. This example is apple to oranges but you get my point I hope.

I don’t expect free anything.

And I agree with Emanuel when it comes to parts and I think They should have A separate parts line that only handles part number and sales NOT technical issues if they are that pressed, what’s a parts counter employe cost? 15-20$ an hour tops? And they also sell parts for profit so if that PARTS phone line was open and free to use (parts NOT free) then it just makes sense to me ( like every other entity I know )

BUT guess what that would mean? The op could of called the Hypothetical parts line and asked for part number xyz1 and they would say “oh that’s been Superseded by part number xyz001” and “thats the air pressure switch would you like to order it?”

Then the op would of ran straight to the air pressure switch and seeing how it was NOT broken, he wouldn’t have purchased a replacement part.
So I just circle back to the fact they want the money up front and they don’t really care if they can actually help you.

I’m still convinced Makino tech inadvertently told op the new part number as her read it himself on his computer.

Edit: America’s manufacturing is dead due to the restrictions and regulations, osha and the likes have destroyed it. Do we need osha? Yes I think we do, does increasing regulation and requiring guards and covers and caution tape also increases COST?

Yes it does, and that is a problem when China has gears falling off machines and killing guys BUT still pumping out parts for a fraction of the price we can (including shipping across the globe!!!) do I have the answers to how to fix our manufacturing? Nope. But let’s not act like we’re all confused why China’s booming,

I get videos of Chinese manufacturing machines (lathes, mills, cnc, and THOUSANDS more machines) on my YouTube feed every day and I find it interesting that this is what America looked like in 1950, so many new companies and machines to meet demand now ghosts.

Those Japanese companies you say are thriving, are only thriving due to the support of others mainly the USA (who democratized them)

they have little mining resources, they don’t grow enough food and they are very limited in space also last I checked the Japanese economy pre corona was not doing very well, Japan sells USA ALOT of export but they also largely import to sustain that.

They are thriving because we are buying. China on the other hand is going through the same revolution the USA went through from roughly 1890-1950 (minus the depression).

They probably don’t even need the USA market(tho it would hurt them to lose it no doubt). The little guy bumps shoulders with the middle guys and those guys bump shoulders with the big guys. Word travels and actions speak volumes.

It's kinda creepy having to sensibly respond to one poster and then be triangulated by a fake account authored by the same person. [Even when salient points are raised in a didactic way to easily counter / usefully illustrate the counter point.].

I kinda forgot the Chinese still have a major axe to grind with the Japanese (D'Oh/ duhhh.).

Never the less it's an interesting history the EG maps out.

Later on in the week I'll give Makino service a call to gauge better where the land really lies.

I'm impressed as hell that Makino attempt to support a machine of the vintage of a RMC55 / KA 55 and leblond Makino etc. *

They don't have to do that.

@EG you sell machines (liker vertical turning centers, horizontal boring machines , source spare parts etc. and more besides ? ) and give people what they want in terms of actual support (sounds like.).

Maybe Makino could archive and upload complete documentation for their much older machines ? BUT on the other hand they still sell those type of models in JAPAN and SE Asia ?

フライス盤 | Makino

Like these ones ^^^ (surprisingly accurate ).

Maybe there is a compromise on $ versus service / needs for smaller outfits / number of employees ?

@EG Op's machine was a S33 [APC](2004).

S33 APC | Makino

Here's one new ^^^

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* I don't know the whole Leblond Makino story/ history.

++ As to points about so and so needs to be "Liquidated " and or "Merged" Usually when companies merge people are laid off for increased efficiency - service department for really old / legacy equipment would be one of the first things to go. Such "mergers" and acquisitions usually put the "Little guy" / "Mom and pop" operation at a much greater distance from actionable support.

cameraman said:

It's kinda creepy having to sensibly respond to one poster and then be triangulated by a fake account authored by the same person.

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? You lost me ....

I kinda forgot the Chinese still have a major axe to grind with the Japanese (D'Oh/ duhhh.).

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Not really ... the history is so long, they'll pull that stuff out when it's convenient but like the vietnamese guy said about the US "why should we hate you ? You were only here 25 years. That ain't shit."

It's like, "Remember what you guys did in 1937?" "Yeah, well you asked for it, remember when chang eu burned our fields in 1420 ?" "Hey ! that was because you guys sold us a bunch of maggoty corn in 1215 !"

It's kinda like being married for 60 years .... you don't like the old broad that much but too late to change now.

Japanese machines are well-regarded in China. German, too. Haas is somewhat successful but mostly because they finance, and the prices are lowish. Also, you'll find that when Chinese people go to the US, they'd rather buy a Japanese car than an American one. Had a "discussion" with one place once, they had a Haas lathe and were happy with it, looking to buy another lathe and the Taiwan one was $1500 cheaper but I suggested another Haas because you know, one control, one set of spares, silly to get two different everythings. He was convinced I as only saying that because it was a US company. Kinda silly, but blood is thicker than water. Kinda like we used to be in the US but aren't anymore.

btw, Taiwan is much more tightly integrated than the press in the US leads you to believe. Every Taiwan company of any size has facilities across the straits. All of them.

Maybe kind of like the family that fights all the time, but let an outsider step in and wham ! they close ranks ?

@EG you sell machines (liker vertical turning centers) and give people what they want in terms of actual support (sounds like.).

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Mostly what we sell is big stuff and odd stuff. You can forget about selling even a nice used vmc into China because there are so many domestic ones and they are so cheap. Anyone who wants a Makino is going to buy a new one. Anyone who wants a used Makino wants to buy it for ten bucks. Horizontals is a slightly different story, there's not so many of those yet. But our usual thing would be gantry mills or 5 meter shapers or 3 meter grinders, that kind of unusual stuff.

Maybe there is a compromise on $ versus service / needs for smaller outfits / number of employees ?

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To tell the truth (probably shouldn't but I'm old now, who cares) I'd much rather deal with state-owned factories. They are more reasonable and reliable. Goofy, but dependable. Private companies are a pain in the ass. And they water the ketchup.

@EG Op's machine was a S33 [APC](2004).

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Yes, I wouldn't even try to sell that here, unless I could get four or five cheap, fill a container, and sell them locally. The shipping kills you on one small machine like that. Shipping and rigging in the US sucks.

To be honest tho, we haven't had that great an experience with Japanese machine companies, but luckily there are usually some tech guys who have left the major companies who know the equipment well and are helpful. Like, "you don't need that $6,000 part, it's just the rear axle from a 39 Merc, you can get one from Ford for $97.50 plus tax" ... that kind of thing.

One example was a Mittymoto CMM we had, installed it and went to do a tuneup, there was a folder of schematcs and setup instructions but one page was blurry so to double-check I called Mittymoto. Tech guy said couldn't be done by amateurs, I said "Well, right here in the leaflet it seems pretty simple, just put a scope across A3 and B6 (or something like that) and adjust P3 until you get a lessajuice (sp ?) pattern onscreen ..."

He flipped. "Where did you ! get that ?!"

Like, excuse me, guy, it's this farking easy but you want to charge me $3500 plus travel and hotel and airfare to do a simple adjustment ? Kinda pissed me off.

In fact more than kinda. So, yeah. I'm not that big a lover of these greedy bastards, and I don't feel sorry for them when a guy wants to know what LS298 is so his spindle will turn on. Doesn't seem like such a big imposition to me.

Makino's machines are top of the line, and their support of their CUSTOMERS is as well.

I worked for their dealer for an decade, switched jobs to in house tech in a place that had used Makino's and the people and support that I knew was there, just went away. I knew the factory guys on an first name basis and, had been to the factory training classes. 2500 an year for phone support was all I could get, so you are not being picked on, that just is how they do business.

cameraman said:

It's kinda creepy having to sensibly respond to one poster and then be triangulated by a fake account authored by the same person. [Even when salient points are raised in a didactic way to easily counter / usefully illustrate the counter point.]

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Is them fighting words?

I don’t like to be called a fake account You squid.

ifixcnc said:

Makino's machines are top of the line, and their support of their CUSTOMERS is as well.

I worked for their dealer for an decade, switched jobs to in house tech in a place that had used Makino's and the people and support that I knew was there, just went away. I knew the factory guys on an first name basis and, had been to the factory training classes. 2500 an year for phone support was all I could get, so you are not being picked on, that just is how they do business.

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Yep that parts not available sorry.
Oh the 2500$ you paid, you want it back because I didn’t help you at all?


Haha Hahaha too bad sucker

I had an opinion like everyone else yet all a sudden a bunch of Incontinent old men start bickering at me like a “flock” of chickens.
It’s my opinion.

Notice I said in my previous post I don’t take Makino personally and if that’s the business they run and it’s running well then so be it.

Don’t shit your diaper or blow an artery over MY opinion.

They don’t care for me

I don’t care for them.

Seems like if they went belly up tomorrow and lot of you fellas would cry.
Especially the guy who worked for Makino.

I’ll crack a cold one and chalk it up to the dang Chinese!

When companies merge or liquidate they don’t board up the doors and torch the place.
The techs and specs of machines usually find their way to someone and usually that makes its way to everyone.

I meant it as that looks like it’s the only way guys like me have a chance to get what we need vs paying 2500$

cameraman said:

I'm impressed as hell that Makino attempt to support a machine of the vintage of a RMC55 / KA 55 and leblond Makino etc. * .

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I’m not sure that they do (or don’t) support those machines anymore. The last time I tried to get a manual was maybe 5-8 years ago.

At the time I had a pretty good contact in the service dept, so I could e-mail and ask questions and get good answers.

I rebuilt the z-axis, and my contact sent all the relavent pages form the maintenance manual, and then when I had problems with the lube system they sent me all that relevant info as well. All the pages were pdf’s that did appear to have been scanned in so I assume he had access to a pdf copy of the manual. I’d have paid for a pdf copy if it had been available.
Most of the other issues have been simple to fix.
The expensive issues have been Fanuc related, I’ve had 2 mobo’s replaced, and another board replaced, two $2k service visits. On the other hand I was up and running both times within a day of there being an issue.