Mitutoyo is amongst the world's largest builders of coordinate measuring machines and has in fact been manufacturing measuring machines since the mid-70s. It was not until the early 80s that the first CNC coordinate measuring machines from Mitutoyo were exported to North America. These machines designated BN and FN were Mitutoyo's first attempts at mass production, medium accuracy coordinate measuring machines.
In the 90s came the BHN, and later the Brite series machines. If purchasing a pre-owned system, these systems offer tremendous value for the budget-minded purchaser. In fact, the BHN series was probably the best machine (mechanically speaking) that Mitutoyo has made. Nowadays, BHN seven series machines sell for $15,000 to $30,000 assuming good operational condition and on-board software. Larger machines in this series from the mid-90s will go for as high as $55,000. They are good value for the budget-minded buyer and offer reliable performance with the minimum amount of maintenance.
Brite systems now appear consistently on the used market, and for the budget-minded provide good performance both in speed and accuracy. Prices for a good used 2000 vintage seven series Bright would be between $25,000-$35,000. Earlier versions of Mitutoyo software, notably Geomeasure and Geopak are completely obsolete by today's standards and the buyer should consider purchasing a new software product to install on his Mitutoyo machine.
PC-DMIS CAD is an excellent product to consider, it brings the Mitutoyo into the world of CAD measurement capabilities. It must be said that when the Mitutoyo machines are equipped with Cosmos software then a premium is generally expected in price, this is Mitutoyo's latest software and newer versions offer CAD compatibility. In many cases most customers prefer the installation of a third-party product rather than the original Mitutoyo software. Again in most cases PC-DMIS CAD seems to be the favourite and in most cases does not require the retrofit of a new control system.
Canadian Measurement-Metrology Inc. has an extensive inventory of pre-owned Mitutoyo coordinate measuring machines.
