New Edger Time

**gogetter** · 07-19-2011, 04:14 PM

We'll be looking to purchase a new edger at Vision Expo in Sept (VEGAS). Im trying to gather some info on the latest technology in edgers. We currently use the Essilor Kappa which is a great machine but our output is increasing to the point where we want to upgrade our 12 yr old machine to one that cuts, edges, and drills if possible.

So i guess if anyone has any suggestions on specific ones i can check out or if you have one that you currently use that would be great.

Also if there are any i should just stay away from. I know ev1 has different opinions so i wont let a few bad things dis-sway me but experience is the best knowledge.

Mabe theres some other websites you could recommend. Anything that helps me in my research for a new edger is very helpful.

Also, if anyone has any experiece buying at Vision Expo that would be useful too. Is it possible to get DEALS at expo or is that idea over rated? This is my first time going, but i am going with the intent to purchase for our office.

Thanks again for any help you guys can give.

**John@OWDC** · 07-19-2011, 04:23 PM

I am 100% Santinelli!
Amazing machines that are true workhorses.
They have everything from basic to "set your imagination free".

As we would say in New England, Wicked Good!

**gogetter** · 07-19-2011, 04:34 PM

yes im sure Santinelli will be the preferred choice overall. Everyone knows the name. I would be interested specifically in ones that do drill jobs. a spacific model would be great. i also would assume Santinelli will be the most expensive of most other brands. I know it my be tough but i want to find a machine that is both reliable and has a reasonable price pricepoint.

I figure were looking at 30-50K for a new edger that drills.

Is this a fair price assesment or am i way off?

**DragonLensmanWV** · 07-19-2011, 04:44 PM

I think the ME-1200 is in that range.

**Barry Santini** · 07-19-2011, 04:55 PM

I am getting a new ME 1200, as my rep found a buyer for my 30 mo old Lex 1000 with drill.

Easy upgrade. Can't wait. Both the Lex 1000 drill and the ME 1000/1200 are the BEST high quality drilling edgers you can get. (except for maybe the MEI's)

Accept no substitues!

B

**pezfaerie** · 07-19-2011, 05:01 PM

We have had the ME1200 for about 3 months now and it is AWESOME! Drill, Step bevel, shape edit function and faceting :)

**LENNY** · 07-19-2011, 05:36 PM

If your Kappa cant handle the amount of work and its calibrated and updated dont think you can do much more on the newer machine!!!!
I would suggest a newer Kapa CTD to add to your current set up and utilize 2 edgers.
The drilable machines are much slower than regular. Dont believe the sales pitches.
If you looking for high volume I would also consider Optronics edger.

PS I love ME edgers but I dont think they can handle higher volume!

**Jacqui** · 07-20-2011, 07:05 AM

Originally Posted by LENNY

If your Kappa cant handle the amount of work and its calibrated and updated dont think you can do much more on the newer machine!!!!
I would suggest a newer Kapa CTD to add to your current set up and utilize 2 edgers.
The drilable machines are much slower than regular. Dont believe the sales pitches.
If you looking for high volume I would also consider Optronics edger.

PS I love ME edgers but I dont think they can handle higher volume!

Ditto :)

**Craig** · 07-21-2011, 06:38 AM

Originally Posted by Barry Santini

I am getting a new ME 1200, as my rep found a buyer for my 30 mo old Lex 1000 with drill.

Easy upgrade. Can't wait. Both the Lex 1000 drill and the ME 1000/1200 are the BEST high quality drilling edgers you can get. (except for maybe the MEI's)

Accept no substitues!

B

Not fair, I want one also!
Who is your rep? I need a new one.
Craig

**FVCCHRIS** · 07-21-2011, 01:08 PM

Originally Posted by gogetter

yes im sure Santinelli will be the preferred choice overall. Everyone knows the name. I would be interested specifically in ones that do drill jobs. a spacific model would be great. i also would assume Santinelli will be the most expensive of most other brands. I know it my be tough but i want to find a machine that is both reliable and has a reasonable price pricepoint.

I figure were looking at 30-50K for a new edger that drills.

Is this a fair price assesment or am i way off?

They all know the name Santinelli but are they familiar with the REAL name they are buying??? It is NIDEK. Santinelli is the distributor and I will say also that the machines are excellent quality but remember when you shop about costs they won't tell you. What is the manufacturers warranty, what does it NOT cover and how much will your maintenance agreement with Santinelli cost you after the warranty is expired??? You will HAVE to have a maintenance agreement to cover the possible OUTRAGEOUS expenses that are possible when a machine goes down. Chris.

**Barry Santini** · 07-21-2011, 01:12 PM

Yes, you will have to have a maintenance agreement for these terrific, but sophisticated machines.

Approx $2K a year for the middle silver plan.

B

**Barry Santini** · 07-21-2011, 01:13 PM

Originally Posted by Craig

Not fair, I want one also!
Who is your rep? I need a new one.
Craig

I owe you $$$. We should talk soon.

B

**Plausible** · 07-21-2011, 10:04 PM

Originally Posted by Barry Santini

I am getting a new ME 1200, as my rep found a buyer for my 30 mo old Lex 1000 with drill.

Easy upgrade. Can't wait. Both the Lex 1000 drill and the ME 1000/1200 are the BEST high quality drilling edgers you can get. (except for maybe the MEI's)

Accept no substitues!

B

Wow Barry giving props to MEI, do you have one?

**Barry Santini** · 07-22-2011, 06:29 AM

Even with a current Santinelli/nidek, you can't match the satin polish on wrap jobs that an MEI can do.

B

**Don Gilman** · 07-22-2011, 01:53 PM

Another way to go if your edger still in good shape. I just started importing a nifty new digital drill, from China of course ,that I saw this year in Milan. After training myself for a couple hours and drilling a half dozen trial lenses, I made my own pair. Drilled 4 holes per lens, two differentt size holes, in about 5 minutes. That included using the demo lens to memorize the hole positions.... which is needed. will probably retail for around $1900.00. You'll pay a lot more than that for the drill feature on an edger. I will have in our booth in Vegas.

**FVCCHRIS** · 07-22-2011, 05:29 PM

Wait till you have $300 wrapped up in a pair of lenses( all bells and whistles ) for a patient sitting in the reception area while you drill and mount those for her/him so they can leave on their once in a lifetime vacation! You think you were a little nervous practicing on your own lenses??! Drill away my friend!

**fahadkhan00** · 07-30-2011, 03:16 AM

Take a look at the Coburn Technologies Excelon XD edger(http://www.coburntechnologies.com/edgers/HPE7000.htm). I believe it is in the 25-30K range and does the same precise of a job as Santinelli.

Your return on investment will be much higher especially because they are offering a 3 year standard warranty which covers everything besides consumables. If you buy Santinelli or some other big brand name, (1) their spare parts are expense, (2) their service pricing isnt impressive either. Thus, if anything goes wrong, you significantly risk incurring high costs.

**Barry Santini** · 07-30-2011, 06:33 AM

Having had in the past:

1. Drilled by hand
2. Drilled glass with a ruby-tipped drill press
3. Drilled using an X-Y platform, such as my old Smartdrill
4. Drilled using an attached digital drill, such as my Lex
5. Drilled with the ability to *save* my efforts to a memory card.

I can honestly say that

I WOULD NEVER GO BACK TO 1 thru 3 for any reason.

Spoiled!

B

**braheem24** · 07-30-2011, 08:54 AM

Originally Posted by fahadkhan00

Take a look at the Coburn Technologies Excelon XD edger(http://www.coburntechnologies.com/edgers/HPE7000.htm). I believe it is in the 25-30K range and does the same precise of a job

I bought a kappa or gamma with the tracer/blocker combo from coburn about 6 years ago, 2 months into using it everyone in the lab wanted the santinelli 7070 back, it was 26k at the time with no drilling option.

**gogetter** · 07-30-2011, 09:37 AM

good info everyone. Thanks alot. Another question. When shopping around or meeting with the different reps what are some important quesions that i should ask besides the cost of the machine.

thanks again.

**chip anderson** · 07-30-2011, 10:07 AM

Remember when you are asking questions, the people giving you the answers are salespeople on commission. Check your answers out with one of thier customers that already has one.
A machine that "can do" things isn't doing them when it's broken down or in need of adjustment.

Chip

"All salesmen are liars, otherwise they wouldn't be salesmen." John Cummings

**fahadkhan00** · 07-30-2011, 10:27 AM

Originally Posted by braheem24

I bought a kappa or gamma with the tracer/blocker combo from coburn about 6 years ago, 2 months into using it everyone in the lab wanted the santinelli 7070 back, it was 26k at the time with no drilling option.

What was their reason for the request? In either case, when buying an edger the most important things to me are

(1) Return on Investment/Overall Cost of Ownership
(2) Precision - The machine should do what it says it can
(3) Price

Also, do consider factors like who has service reps in your area and who will come to your help the fastest if you need it. DOWNTIME + Cost of parts can cause big setbacks.

I, honestly believe, a small company like Coburn would not offer anyone a 3 year warranty until they believed in the reliability of their machines. Plus, its always easier to get a service tech from a small business arrive at your place way faster than a huge company (such as Santinelli) whose service reps are part salesman as well. They have known to convince people who have service issues to "upgrade" to a completely new edger.

One more thing to keep in mind is shop for the features that you need, most of the time fancy features might be attractive but that is what exactly will drive your list price up and can become a source of pain if they break.

I believe the current deal that Coburn offers gives you the bang for your buck.

Think about all the above factors when you are making your purchase.

**braheem24** · 07-30-2011, 08:24 PM

Originally Posted by fahadkhan00

What was their reason for the request?

Constant need for calibration.

**LENNY** · 07-31-2011, 11:09 PM

Originally Posted by fahadkhan00

I, honestly believe, a small company like Coburn would not offer anyone a 3 year warranty until they believed in the reliability of their machines. Plus, its always easier to get a service tech from a small business arrive at your place way faster than a huge company (such as Santinelli) whose service reps are part salesman as well.

You realy think that Santinelli is much bigger than Coburn?

**John@OWDC** · 08-01-2011, 05:54 AM

"I, honestly believe, a small company like Coburn would not offer anyone a 3 year warranty until they believed in the reliability of their machines. Plus, its always easier to get a service tech from a small business arrive at your place way faster than a huge company (such as Santinelli) whose service reps are part salesman as well. They have known to convince people who have service issues to "upgrade" to a completely new edger."

I have no idea where you get this information from but wherever it is you may seriously want to find another source. Or take the time to do a little research.

Having actually been to Santinelli's headquarters I know for a "fact" not hearsay that they are not as "big" as you think they are.
Heck, they are still a family run business.

And yes, I for one, really do believe that Santinelli (Nidek) are a step above the rest.