Zund or Colex

[Daniel OTW]

I've been working on a Zund for the past five years, its 11 years old but is still amazing. We obtained it second hand, with no training and I am completely self taught. The bad part is its loaded with Oce software, because it was purchased from Cannon, and Zund reluctantly helps with very little support as a result. I've done well enough with the shop to merit adding an additional machine to my department, and its down to a new Zund, from Zund, who would also then upgrade and service the older machine. The benefits being equal service, upgraded software and interchangeable parts.
HOWEVER, another person (from the office) involved in the decision making process put a spotlight on Kongsberg and a Colex. We had a zoom demo and did a visit with a local company to see the Kongsberg, and voted against it as the similar cost made 2 Zunds the more logical choice.
The new wrinkle is the Colex, we had a Zoom demo, and I get the impression its way more primitive, relying on manual instinct, blind guessing, and no frills blade modules. The cost is difficult to ignore comparing it to Zund and Kongsberg. The appeals are cost and location (were only 1.5 hours from the factory which would be great for supplies and support) We are going to visit them this week before making the final decision. I'm anxious about pushing for the Zund out of familiarity and its near magical precision as well as the afore mentioned benefits of service and parts sharing. The Colex seems "fine", we make signs, not rocket ships. While its unlikely many of us here have worked with more than one of these machines, I'm curious to hear practical thoughts and opinions from peers, and possible first hand stories. I don't want to strain the future of my position and department by choosing a cheaper machine that could potentially be more trouble than its worth, and riding a great old ZUND out to pasture in the next few years or so.

 

[garyroy]

If you didn't have the Zund, I'd say go with the Colex. Since you have the Zund and know it well and you'll get "upgraded" on the old machine software by Zund, that seems like the better choice. The other person from the office, are they running any machines or do they just have bright ideas? Unless they are an owner with $$ in the game, their opinion is not the real decision maker. As far as parts go, how often do you need parts for the Zund? When the tech comes in to install the new Zund, have him go over the old machine and really fine tune it, (leveling, parts adjustment, all the goodies). If your company is good with the extra $$ for the Zund, go for it! My opinion.

BTW, that little pup of yours is way too lovable. Fact.

 

[RabidOne]

Used to work at a shop that had a Zund. Because we were running OCE flatbeds we used Procut. Worked well, not the most amazing nesting, but the interface to cutting was pretty flexible.

 

[MGB_LE]

I've been working on a Zund for the past five years, its 11 years old but is still amazing. We obtained it second hand, with no training and I am completely self taught. The bad part is its loaded with Oce software, because it was purchased from Cannon, and Zund reluctantly helps with very little support as a result. I've done well enough with the shop to merit adding an additional machine to my department, and its down to a new Zund, from Zund, who would also then upgrade and service the older machine. The benefits being equal service, upgraded software and interchangeable parts.
HOWEVER, another person (from the office) involved in the decision making process put a spotlight on Kongsberg and a Colex. We had a zoom demo and did a visit with a local company to see the Kongsberg, and voted against it as the similar cost made 2 Zunds the more logical choice.
The new wrinkle is the Colex, we had a Zoom demo, and I get the impression its way more primitive, relying on manual instinct, blind guessing, and no frills blade modules. The cost is difficult to ignore comparing it to Zund and Kongsberg. The appeals are cost and location (were only 1.5 hours from the factory which would be great for supplies and support) We are going to visit them this week before making the final decision. I'm anxious about pushing for the Zund out of familiarity and its near magical precision as well as the afore mentioned benefits of service and parts sharing. The Colex seems "fine", we make signs, not rocket ships. While its unlikely many of us here have worked with more than one of these machines, I'm curious to hear practical thoughts and opinions from peers, and possible first hand stories. I don't want to strain the future of my position and department by choosing a cheaper machine that could potentially be more trouble than its worth, and riding a great old ZUND out to pasture in the next few years or so.

We placed our Colex 60x120" Sharpcut with 3hp router back in 2015 and it's been a workhorse, scarcely seeing a service tech more than once over that time, and seeing daily use, quite a bit under a Zund price point. I'd buy another in heartbeat. Great value for the money. I can understand the benefits of staying with Zund in your spot. I'd say the load balancing or consistency of workflow would be big benefits in your place. Otherwise, I'd say there's no need to spend more for the Zund name. You're making signs, not rocketships.

 

[Grizzly]

I would look at the software directly on the Colex/Kongsberg and make sure it works with what you're doing and the way you want it too. There are a lot of things that I do on a regular basis in ZCC and Zund Editor that I've found out are not standard on other machines. I think the both machines are capable of producing great work, I think the Zund might be more refined though than some of the others. I'd also look at the speed in certain aspects like reading register dots, carriage speed, and z-axis knife speeds (up and down) . That can make an impact. Our Zund was the first CNC and only CNC Cutter/Route we have so I don't have any real world experience on other machines just what I've seen at tradeshows. It think Colex was smart in their willingness to integrate with other companies (like Digitech and the automation from print to cut) so I like that about them that they're trying to make it easier on everyone. When we bought our Zund in 2012, they had a 2 year warranty vs Kongsberg that only had a 1 year warranty. That was enough for me. I have NEVER regretted purchasing our Zund. In the 14 years we've owned it, I've probably only spent $12-15,000 on maintenance and repairs, the most recent of it being $7,000 because our hold down vacuum went out and it was old enough they couldn't just replace parts of it. We did upgrade to the Automatic Router Bit changer and that is AWESOME!

 

[Think713]

I've been working on a Zund for the past five years, its 11 years old but is still amazing. We obtained it second hand, with no training and I am completely self taught. The bad part is its loaded with Oce software, because it was purchased from Cannon, and Zund reluctantly helps with very little support as a result. I've done well enough with the shop to merit adding an additional machine to my department, and its down to a new Zund, from Zund, who would also then upgrade and service the older machine. The benefits being equal service, upgraded software and interchangeable parts.
HOWEVER, another person (from the office) involved in the decision making process put a spotlight on Kongsberg and a Colex. We had a zoom demo and did a visit with a local company to see the Kongsberg, and voted against it as the similar cost made 2 Zunds the more logical choice.
The new wrinkle is the Colex, we had a Zoom demo, and I get the impression its way more primitive, relying on manual instinct, blind guessing, and no frills blade modules. The cost is difficult to ignore comparing it to Zund and Kongsberg. The appeals are cost and location (were only 1.5 hours from the factory which would be great for supplies and support) We are going to visit them this week before making the final decision. I'm anxious about pushing for the Zund out of familiarity and its near magical precision as well as the afore mentioned benefits of service and parts sharing. The Colex seems "fine", we make signs, not rocket ships. While its unlikely many of us here have worked with more than one of these machines, I'm curious to hear practical thoughts and opinions from peers, and possible first hand stories. I don't want to strain the future of my position and department by choosing a cheaper machine that could potentially be more trouble than its worth, and riding a great old ZUND out to pasture in the next few years or so.

I work on an older Colex, and I think its great. But my experience with it is limited and I think the comments above are more helpful.

 

[Think713]

We placed our Colex 60x120" Sharpcut with 3hp router back in 2015 and it's been a workhorse, scarcely seeing a service tech more than once over that time, and seeing daily use, quite a bit under a Zund price point. I'd buy another in heartbeat. Great value for the money. I can understand the benefits of staying with Zund in your spot. I'd say the load balancing or consistency of workflow would be big benefits in your place. Otherwise, I'd say there's no need to spend more for the Zund name. You're making signs, not rocketships.

Same. Our colex is a beast. We even have had some damage mishaps with a bit slipping from a collet and damaging the table and it still works fine. Slight loss in suction on that zone, but it just keeps going. With basic monthly upkeep on the lubrication it just works. Solid piece of gear for any shop. And the colex cut software makes life easy.

 

[Superior_Adam]

I have been running a Zund for 11 years. Not 1 tech visit. I had to replace a cable once but that was easy. Still using the original belt as well. If you take care of them they will last forever. I would not think twice about getting another would not even entertain going with Colex.

 

[Think713]

I have been running a Zund for 11 years. Not 1 tech visit. I had to replace a cable once but that was easy. Still using the original belt as well. If you take care of them they will last forever. I would not think twice about getting another would not even entertain going with Colex.

taking a look at their site and product in general plus their softwares.. Ima have to agree.. Without experience on one, Zund's look like theyre top of the line and have a modular like system setup which provides potential for different efficiency. For what im doing at the shop im at I dont see a need for all that, BUT it would be ideal in the long run. Plus the build in workstation setup is super nice. I would love to work on one of these.

 

[Daniel OTW]

I appreciate everyone's responses, I don't literally have the final say, but I feel like the weight of practical opinion is on my shoulders. Honestly, EITHER machine is a win for my department and my crew and I will be grateful for the expansion. Thank you all for weighing in, I feel heard and understood.