Hardinge conquest t-51 info

[mailloux]

Hi all,

Anybody know of any training available for this machine on the west coast, specifically Southern Ca. I know Hardinge offers training in Elmira, New York, going to NY is my last resort.

I am also looking for a freelance programmer experienced with this machine to come into our facility and verify that all features of this machine are working properly and help us out with some programming.

Thanks

[g-codeguy]

Would love to help you, but I am located on the East Coast. I've been programming/setting-up/running Hardinge lathes for over 22 years. Currently most of ours are T42s, but we do have an older 51 Conquest.

If you have any questions regarding programming or running the lathe, I would be glad to try and answer them. Just don't ask me any maintenance questions. I can line up subspindles and turrets, but that is as far as I want to go.

What options does it have? Are you, or do you plan on, using the Hardinge Safe Index Programs? I like them, but suggest you put them in protected programs. That way operators can't inadvertently delete them. I went a step further and use an M-call for them. I'm lazy. Easier to type M91 than M98P9001.

I think you will be pleased with the machine. We have about 9 different brands of lathes, but the Hardinges are probably my favorite. One dislike is the short distance between spindles on the T42s. Our oldest 42 Conquest is probably 18 years old, and runs every day (of work). Still an accurate machine running some jobs with a .0005 total tolerance.

Edit: Forgot to mention that you can email me if you'd rather.

[mailloux]

Thanks g-codeguy,

Things have changed a little on our timeframe, we are now several months away from putting this lathe into action so it will be a little while before I contact you. In the meantime this lathe has live tooling and dual spindles, a parts catcher, and a tool offset seting probe, and probably more features I don't know about yet. We are looking to use this for full on production and we are adding a bar feeder and loading hopper. I have yet to see the parts catcher in action, does it function well? It seams rather awkward. I will be in touch when I have some questions concerning turning this thing on and going forward.

Thanks for the interest,

[g-codeguy]

Originally Posted by mailloux Thanks g-codeguy, Things have changed a little on our timeframe, we are now several months away from putting this lathe into action so it will be a little while before I contact you. In the meantime this lathe has live tooling and dual spindles, a parts catcher, and a tool offset seting probe, and probably more features I don't know about yet. We are looking to use this for full on production and we are adding a bar feeder and loading hopper. I have yet to see the parts catcher in action, does it function well? It seams rather awkward. I will be in touch when I have some questions concerning turning this thing on and going forward. Thanks for the interest,

Is live tooling C-axis capable, or only M19. Hydraulic sub or programmable (Y-axis)? We have both. I would assume C-axis & Y-axis for yours. Parts catcher works okay, tho it doesn't catch 100% of the parts. Ejector is air driven. Air pressure is adjustable. It is possible to bounce a part off the spindle or front wall. I program the Y-axis to come in a bit, open collet to eject part (shoot out a couple inches) into the parts catcher. Ejector has a replaceable rubber skirt. You will need to make a few different size pieces that screw onto the 1/2-20UN thread for the different size parts you run. Parts catcher speed is adjustable for 'Extend' and 'Retract'. Also adjustable for Z-axis position. Parts catcher is better than those on the Daewoos.

Our newest Hardinge is a few years old, but I assume they are still being made the same way. The subspindle is belt driven. Our experience has shown they break. You can go to a heavy duty one, but it isn't a simple belt change. Our maintenance man tells me the pulleys also have to be changed. Not the easiest change over, and they still occasionally break. Just not as often.

Ours are all barfeed machines. I am not sure what you mean when you say "loading hopper." Are you referring to a chip conveyor?

Figure on using standard 16C collets in the subspindle, not extended nose collets if you plan on holding a close O.A.L. You won't be able to hold O.A.L. within .002/.003 with an extended nose collet.

Let me know when you need a little help. PM me if necessary. I try to check in here on a regular basis.

EDIT: I may have made a false assumption. Our Bigboy 42 has a 16C collet in the sub. That may be because it is a T42. Don't really know about the T51. Our 51 Conquest has a tailstock.
2nd EDit: Oops, a senior moment. I meant Bigbore (20C collet in main).