Hankook Machine Tools Co. Ltd. - Changwon, South Korea

Machine: Hankook VTC200E
Warranty: 2 years.

I will never buy another & will do my best dissuade others.

Caliper brake failed after 1 year. Replaced under warranty.
Replacement caliper failed after 2 years. Replaced under warranty.
2nd replacement caliper failed after 3 years. Reconditioned by local maintenance technician who found that an air line for cleaning the caliper was never connected. Cost $8,000

Milling spindle seized after 3 years. Investigation found that the ram cavity had not been painted & was severely rusted. The rust flaked off & fell into the spindle bearings below. We checked out another identical machine for comparison & found that it was painted adequately, suggesting that this was a manufacturing omission. We approached Hankook & they refused to accept any responsibility as warranty had expired.
Cost to repair $120,000.

Vibration in main spindle after 3.5 years. Investigation found that the main spindle tapered roller bearing was badly spalled, & had multiple broken rollers. Further investigation found that the drawing specified a P5 precision grade bearing but the failed bearing was a standard grade, the shaft diameter was oversize by 0.1mm & the bore diameter was undersize by 0.1mm, therefore the space for the rollers was reduced by 0.2mm hence no room for lubrication. Cost to repair $32,000. While repairing we noticed that the encoder cable was just twisted together & wrapped in electrical tape and no filter in the lubrication system, just a coarse strainer.

It's only when you look under the bonnet on Hankook machines that you observe the low standard of engineering.

I hope my review will discourage you from considering Hankook.