huvitz coburn hpe8000 edging system

[fjpod]

Does anyone have experience with this system? We're considering one. At first, we were considering it because of AR\Hi index lens rotation on our NO 7e system, but we actually have that under control. The hpe8000 offers milling and cribbing of large blank, high minus lenses without rotational forces, among other things.

But after studying the system for a while, it just seems like it would be faster and more efficient. The auto lensometer au tomatically recognizes, centers, aligns and blocks SV, VFLs, etc. Should be a time saver/Staff saver.

Anybody with first hand experience?

[labguy2020]

I have it and love it. The 8000 can do more than any unit besides the MEI and the blocker is by far the best Auto Blocker I have used. I can even download jpeg's into the blocker and cut them. Using the milling cycle is a little slow, but no more slippage.

[ml43]

Currently testing the cpe4000 at work. Needed something that could do regular jobs & grooving.

awesome machine, I would put it up against an le/lex1000 anyday.

Hoping to test the hpe8000 at VEW for the high base curve wheel.

only other machine I know of that has a high base curve wheel is the me1200, and that is almost twice the price.

As for saving time/staff. It depends what kind of jobs you are doing, and how many you do per day.

[fjpod]

We're doing an average of 25 jobs per day. A lot of hi-index and poly with AR which is very slippery.

With our current system, the NO 7e, we have 4 stations,...edger, bocker, tracer and an intake auto-lensomer... sometimes with 3 or 4 people working the stations.

The HPE 8000 has a blocker/tracer/lensometer combo unit which means I can only have one person working these three functions, but it does seem more efficient. It also lets you drill one lens while you are cutting the next lens. If the cycle times on the HPE800 are faster than the 7e, this could save time and staff.

just thinking out loud here.... appreciate all the help.

[Tallboy]

Some guys are car guys, I'm an edger guy. I love reading this stuff.

[fjpod]

Some guys are car guys, I'm an edger guy. I love reading this stuff.

So, what do you use? Are you having AR slippage problems? Are you using really slow, non-aggressive settings to avoid it? Are you wasting time and money over it?

[Tallboy]

So, what do you use? Are you having AR slippage problems? Are you using really slow, non-aggressive settings to avoid it? Are you wasting time and money over it?

I use a VSI nidek 9000sx. Its a little better tham the regular old 9000 with edging high slippage lenses. I use it because it works for me and I rarely do more than 20 Jobs in a day. With dynamic labs Xtreme grip tape on front only there is no slippage. It cuts slow especially with trivex and I manually block but Im good at it. I have glazed up to -18.00 with teflon AR and a +14.00 with a bouse AR both came out on axis.

If I had your kind of volume and struggled with slippage I would definitely consider that huvitz 8000. We almost got the 3000 but went with VSI because of their price.

Coburn was a great company to deal with.

I am extremely jealous of the ferrari and porche edgers some of you guys have

[LENNY]

We're doing an average of 25 jobs per day. A lot of hi-index and poly with AR which is very slippery.

With our current system, the NO 7e, we have 4 stations,...edger, bocker, tracer and an intake auto-lensomer... sometimes with 3 or 4 people working the stations.

The HPE 8000 has a blocker/tracer/lensometer combo unit which means I can only have one person working these three functions, but it does seem more efficient. It also lets you drill one lens while you are cutting the next lens. If the cycle times on the HPE800 are faster than the 7e, this could save time and staff.

just thinking out loud here.... appreciate all the help.

Any 25 edging jobs with your current equipment should be completed by one person in one day!
I am confused! Did you forget about your surfacing?

[javguy]

I have it and love it. The 8000 can do more than any unit besides the MEI and the blocker is by far the best Auto Blocker I have used. I can even download jpeg's into the blocker and cut them. Using the milling cycle is a little slow, but no more slippage.

So what's a realistic price on one of these that's used and in good condition?

[Tallboy]

I would also like to know how an huvitz 8000 is faring 6 years later, the fact that my nidek 9000 keeps kicking out perfect jobs makes me window shop an awful lot, but also hesitant to invest in bells and whistles that crash down the road just after I finish paying it off.

Anyone had one of these for a while?

[lensmanmd]

I have used the 8000, but it is now on moth balls. The Milling is great for lower RXs, but anything over a -6, it wouldn't mill at all. What good is a milling function when you can't use it on the RXs that would most benefit from it?
As for the side car drilling, that is awesome. I loved being able to drill one lens while edging the other. Complex shapes were also a nice function, though not really practical for our applications. Edge polishes were consistently great. Overall, the finish quality off of the 8000 cannot be beat for the price.
The 8000 was a slow edger, but slippage on super hydros were minimal. For a small shop that wants a reasonably priced and flexible edger, the 8000 would be a good fit. I need to edge 100 jobs per edger every day. The 8000 couldn't keep up, so it is a door stop currently. I do have plans on using it as an offline specialty edger, unless someone would like to take it off my hands.
Our MEI EZFit can run circles around the 8000 in speed, customization and quality, but at 3x the price.
My QMX3 will ship in two weeks, so I am really excited to add it to my edger line along side of my 7EXs, Weco e.6 and the EZFit. I also still use the Huvitz 7000, and am considering replacing it with another EZFit once the 7000 is fully amortized. The 7000 is another edger that is a great value for edge quality and reliability, BTW.