Newbie- Shizuoka AN-S; Worthwhile?

[nicoletbn]

Hi there~

I'm looking for a mill, and I figured that eventually I'd want to go the cnc route, so when I noticed some Shizuoka AN-S's pop up on craigslist this morning, I figured I was in luck! I was just wondering if anyone had any opinions, recommendations, feedback, or issues with this mill. I understand that the cnc side of it (looks like a bandit?) is fairly out of date, but it seems like a number of people have performed a retrofit on it to bring it up to date. I'm going to be checking it out on monday, so any opinions before than are much appreciated!

Thank you so much!

~nicole

[123CNC]

Shiz AN-S can be a great starting point. The main good and bad is that they are big when compared to an ST-N or Bridgeport Series 1 or knock-off. The AN-S has boxed ways and a 5-hp spindle, making it more capable then its little brother and little cousins for heavy cuts.

Because of their size and antiquity though they can sometimes be had for free, if not picked up by the recyclers first (heavy=$$$).

The other potential downside is, depending on tool builder choice of controls, Bandit or other, the servo motors (or stepper) can be on the big side and you can compromise with smaller drives or spend some extra change with fewer selections in the larger drive category. Size does matter.

This relates to the spindle and power requirements as well. The vsd/vfd route for single phase supply hits the economical ceiling around 3 hp. Single or three phase vfd/vsds start rapidly increasing in price at the 3+ range.

Some Shiz-Bandits had tool changers as well. You will get mixed reviews on them, but you have to keep them in perspective to the time and the level of sophistication.

If you keep your initial investment low and can handle the size, they can be a great base machine.

[Barry_ward]

Nicole,

They are fantastic machines and are well suited for re-conversion to PC based CNC. I love mine. The website is a couple of years behind, but you can see the move, cleaning, retrofit and a few projects there. Since the last website update, I've cut thousands of pounds of aluminum a few of steel and quite a few engravings.

best regards,

Barry

[KIMFAB]

The Shiz is a large machine and can usually be picked up for a reasonable price. I got mine real cheap and am currently in the process of retrofitting it. My problem was it was too big for my shop so I ended up having to build another shop to house it.