Haas TL-1 tool turret modifications

[Mark Hockett]

About a year ago I upgraded from the old style gear motor tool turret to the new servo driven turret. I have been fairly happy with it as far as speed goes but did not like the way the servo cover could interfere with the tail stock. I also have always wanted to add coolant through the turret so each tool had its own coolant nozzle that could be aimed to the proper point, similar to my Miyano and Daewoo turning centers.
Here are my solutions.
I started by removing the servo cover and sawing a 1.1” X 1.7” section out of it. I then removed the ends, inverted the section and welded it back in. I removed the turret from the lathe. The air solenoid needs to be moved from the tail stock side of the turret to the operator side. I milled a pocket on the operator side similar to the one on the tail stock side, drilled and tapped two 10-32 holes and mounted the air solenoid. I switched the air lines under the turret so they could route to the correct positions. I moved the wire harness mount over to the wire loom screw and tilted the harness mount it at an angle. Here are some pictures,








When the turret was off I removed the tool block and drilled .187" holes in each corner at a 24.5 degree angle towards the center. I then drilled for a 1/8" NPT down from the top until it met the bottom hole. I tapped the 1/8 NPT hole and mounted some Loc Line adapters. I mounted the whole turret in the mill, located the position of the coolant hole and removed the tool block. I removed the tool block milled the turret top flat at this location and drilled into the turret base for a 1/2" X 20 TPI tap. I also milled the side of the turret base flat at the same time. I then drilled in the side to meet the top hole and tapped for a 1/8" NPT. Here are some pictures,





In the last picture you can see how I sealed the base to the turret. I made a brass threaded post that would accept an automotive valve stem seal. These seals work great and I have tons of them lying around. I just removed the metal spring around the seal and that allowed it to compress more. Here is a picture of the post,



Here is the almost finished product,





I routed the coolant line through the X axis cross slide with the other lines for the turret. I put a T at the coolant pump so I can still use the original coolant line if needed.

Mark Hockett
Island Tech Enterprises

[Geof]

You are way more ambitious than me. I keep planning on making a doohickey attached to the cover plate on the tool turret so I can have individual nozzles at all four corners but your approach is much nicer.

Your modifications to reduce interference between the turret servo cover and the tailstock is also nice. I do not use the tailstock much but the few times I have it has been a nuisance. Also I have a couple of times pushed the tailstock off the end of the bed by moving the carriage back with the X axis in a few inches. You are now less likely to do that.

I just looked at your coolant line modifications again....very elegant.

[WallyL7]

That looks awesome!

I was actually one of Haas' beta sites for the original version of the TL-1 toolchanger. Some great fun with that machine...

We ended up sending the toolchanger back and opting for the tool post...but it looks like you are really able to take full advantage of that setup now.

[Mark Hockett]

I finally finished modifying the TL-1 turret. The fitting on the side of the base was really bugging me and it came very close to the chuck jaws when using soft jaws. I had the turret off while machining some large diameter parts with the Aloris post so I thought it was time to finish the turret. I routed the coolant line under the base of the turret,



And plugged the old inlet port,



It was also hard to read the turret position numbers with the coolant nozzles in the way so I added new numbers away from the nozzles,



The coolant line is now routed with the air and electrical lines so it is not visible from the operator side of the lathe.

Mark Hockett