Entry Level CNC Lathes

[big_mak]

Thanks for the input boys. MAybe all the FEMCO guys are too busy counting the money it's making for them. Hope so.

The thing with the FEMCO is that DURGA Turret option. It just says lower setup times to me, because I wouldn't be rearranging the turret all the time, which I've seen guys do in a lot of short run production shops.

SO Geof now when you retire your kids will keep you doing R & D in your basement?

[Geof]

Originally Posted by big_mak .....SO Geof now when you retire your kids will keep you doing R & D in your basement?

Not exactly a basement :

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/attach...6&d=1145498901

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/attach...9&d=1146458085

[big_mak]

You need some epoxy down on those floors mate!!!! Looks like you just squeeked it in under the ceiling!!!!!

Nice little Hobby Shop!! That TL-2 will go nicely in there.

My only thing with Haas is that TSS will get their share. Anyone from western Canada will know who I'm talking about.

[Geof]

Two inches to spare coming under the doorway.

On a serious note regarding your choice of lathe (I can be serious occasionally).

I have not seen pictures of your FEMCO DURGA Turret but you mention something about a turret within a turret. To me that sounds like it might be awkward to setup and might be one that needs close attention to tool positioning and holder clearances. You might find you can get by without moving tools around as often but when you do have to do it you may take a longer time than with a simpler tutrret design.

One thing I have found with the bolt-on holders on turrets is you can leave tools in the holder and simply record the X offset. It is very quick to switch holders and they go back very close to the same position so only having twelve positions is not too much of a limit.

[big_mak]

Here is a link to the Video

http://www.femcousa.com/cnc-machine-...DurgaVideo.asp

[big_mak]

FEMCO guys where are you? All I want it some input, or are you trying to keep that thing a secret?????

[tobyaxis]

Big Mac,

That looks like a pretty good machine. The only questionable issue is the Rear Turret. I'd be a little sceptical because if it takes a little bump it may lock everything and cost too much to have someone to repair.

Other than that it looks pretty solid and productive. That Fanuc Control is a good one too.

[Big_d]

I have had a bit to do with a single Femco machine. We had one in our shop for about 10 years 7 years ago.. One of the few machines we have had in our shop that didn't ever need spindle bearings changed. It was a C axis lathe with a live spindle and it performed as required. We did have a few problems with the spindle clamp and eventually retired that with the live spindle option (5 years old). As a lathe it held size well but was a bit under powered. The gibs wore a little faster than other brands we used to do the same work in our shop (2/3 the time span). Never had any turret or hydraulic problems during the time it was in production. It was however slower than the Mazak M4 it replaced and was down cycle time wise about 8-15 seconds over a 3 minute job (Not using the C axis). It was used to machine castings that needed to be jogged so this was never really an issue for us. It had a Fanuc control and the documentation was good for a Taiwanese machine of that era. It was only retired due to a chuck coming apart and smashing all the electronics from the inside out. I have only ever seen or heard of the one machine in person but it was an honest machine that didnt give as many problems as our higher performance machines.
I would be a bit concerned about the DURGA turret though, the money would probably be better spent on more tooling and holders as it doesn't take to long to change over with only minimal set up. But I suppose it depends on what you are machining.
Good Luck with your choice.
Daza

[davereagan]

Toby,
I have a Mighty Mustang C-42 I bought new in June 1999. I've had a couple of problems with it, including that same ball screw failure, which was just barely inside the one year warranty thankfully. I can't believe they don't lock those nylon pieces into the nut. If I were to install another one, I'd atleast wrap safety wire around each one to keep it in, but how rinky dink. Other than that though, I have been very happy with my machine. I am wondering about his tool changer problem. Regarding the belt skipping, I have had belt slack problems but that was because of crashing the machine, which shifted the motor and caused slack in the belt. It can also cause spindle orientation noise problems. I have solved more problems with this machine than I can remember and I'd be happy to freely share my experience with your buddy. One of the biggest improvements I made was at about one year. The limit switches on the Y axis were the lowest and kept collecting coolant and the return springs would rust and finally fail to return ( repeatedly). They appeared to be sealed, but somehow coolant kept getting in. Finally I decided whatever coolant came in would be going out. I drilled a 1/8" hole in the bottom of the switch box and have never had the problem since. Eventually, I did the same thing with the junction box below the right back side of the machine table. It was collecting water and electrolysis was going on at 310 volts DC between the box and the amphenol connector on the X axis. Drilled a 1/4" hole and problem solved. I'm not sure if other users run coolant so much, because it seemed like I was educating the factory on this issue. Sorry for the long write up, but I spent many hours discovering these problems and the solutions are easy.

Dave

[Delw]

Nakamura or a supermax will be my next machine, I ran both, also ran Hitachi seikes sence they came out with the 20 sII. I helped do service, set=up and training on hitachi's as well( they are out of business now).
The Htachi was the hottest and fastest thing out for a while, I eneded up buying a yci supermax for slug work. the Hitech turned barfeed. The supermax was such a good accurate and strong machine it blew the hitech away so I bought another one.
My serial number on the hitech 20sIII was 00002 Thats probally why I had major problems with it, hitech was good about it and fixed it.
I realize there is a difference between the 2 , the hitech was linar guides and the supermax was box way. However the turrets on the hitech sucked bigtime and the clutchs popped all the time in the z axis.

The supermax for me was one of the best running Machines out there, tolorance was right on the money everytime. and repeat ability was right on.
the one we just ran slugs on were anywere from 3" to 8" dia. primarily it was 9310 gear steel. we ran 2 12 hour shifts. I ran very heavy cuts and big 2" - 3" drills we ran Aircraft gear parts for ACG Corp. (boeing Parts) before all that work went to mouge. we ran approx 10,000-15,000 lbs of 9310 and 4340 a month.
We tried them on a test run on haas, wouldnt cut the part in half the time, and put way to much load on the machine so we didnt buy one.
I have nothing against haas I think they have one of the best mills on the market in there price range. but they have a long way to go on there lathes ( as of 2 years ago last time I looked).
I will probally look at them again here in the near future as I am thinking of getting a mill turn lathe for my next one and I hear they make a pretty nice one. but I need to do some looking first. Other wise I am just going to buy another mill and a supermax lathe.

One of my neighbors had a Nakamura, that machine was very strong ( we did the same work).
As far as the control we ran ot controls on our supermax's. its a 2 axis lathe there is not really very much needed on a control for turning round parts. the OT control had plenty of canned cycles.

the support I got from supermax when I needed it was right there and then. They also flew out on 2 occasions due to one of my employees crashing the machine pretty bad and actually breaking the geneva drive in the turret.

For a job shop I would stick boxed ways as you never know what you will run. one day it could be inconel the next alum. speed won't make too much difference on a lathe unless its a long bed. the main difference it will make though is on reaction time of your operators in a crash.
I would run a 8" chuck 6" are really nice and have more RPMS however the thru-bore is smaller and the jaws are smaller ( lots smaller) its easier to go down in size than up. plus with a 6" machine you don't get the HP needed to turn a 8" part if you have too ( we had to do that a few times cause our 8" chuck machines were tied up).

like someone mentioned above it all depends on what type of work you do.

Lathes do wear out much faster than mills so keep that in mind. there are a few reasons for it. taking heavy cuts and knocking a part out of the jaws even a couple of times does take its toll. plus taking heavy cuts over time takes its toll.