Posted by davidsuffolk on 21/09/2015 19:26:43:
I am looking to buy a boring head and had read that some of the cheaper makes from India & China were a bit problematic. I have some Vertex (from Taiwan) equipment which seemed to be pretty good to me so I was planning to buy one of those.
I had put a wanted ad out to see if anyone had a good quality one for sale and was offered a used UPA 3 boring and facing head. It was a lot more than I had planned to spend but made me think it might be worth buying. I looked to see what was available new. Even Vertex's is pushing £600 so I was surprised to see that Arc Euro's boring and facing head was £343 which seemed exceptional value.
Now I accept that quality costs and you get what you pay for so I don't want to buy if it is of a poor quality,similar to the cheaper fixed boring heads on sale everywhere for £50 or so.
So, has anyone any experience of these heads? Are they durable and accurate?
Any comments or advice appreciated!
David,
There are makers of 'cheap' boring heads in India and China. There are also makers of 'good quality' boring heads in both countries. It is down to who chooses to import what, for this product.
If you dont need the automatic feed facility, then what is available from the likes of ARC, Chester, Warco, Chronos are fine. I say this based on sales experience for the product range under the £100.00 mark, as well as having visited the factories who make for the companies specified. Return/failure rate is about 2 in a 100, based on ARC sales figures.
The Universal Boring and Facing Heads: Broadly speaking, these are a Narex copy. They are made by large set-ups who have specialist skills for making such heads. To the best of my knowledge, there are only three good makers for this product in China, with regular production for this item. In India, it is made against special order only. It is my opinion that Vertex's head is supplied by one of the three factories from mainland China, and ARC happens to buy from one of them. There are very minor differences (mainly screws and nuts) between the three, as they all share the same blueprint, which I have seen, when we had a problem with a unit which was returned.
I am aware that you have failed to receive any comments from users, in this thread. So, as a seller, I can only address this by referring to ARCs sales and returns. ARC is happy with the product and its sales, with one return, as the said unit was faulty. About 50% sold to businesses and 50% to private end users. The product we sell is packed in a case which is different from Vertex, and other than that, I too fail to see the difference. It does not come with any instructions.
Ketan at ARC.