Pricey is relative. My first Mori-Seiki sh-50 horizontal was 470K before the tooling package that was back in 93' Sitting right next to it was a Fadal 4020 3 axis vertical mill I bought for 62K. The Mori (4 axis) had smaller travels a full live C axis .8 second tool change 1300 ipm rapids ( a real rocketship at the time). The new 5 axis machines ( like the little trunnion machines that allow 5 sided machining from a single datum are real time savers and really improve accuracy but the Integrex style machines offer more flexibility cause they are essentially two lathes(high and low speed positioning rotary axes) facing each other with a 5 axis articulated mill spindle that you can park a lathe tool in. Mazak make parts like these much simpler than they used to be.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AV6m5_DZ-tkSometimes I regret selling my manufacturing business, sometimes I don't.
