WABECO Lathe discussion (manual and CNC)

[Tino_ale]

Hi all,

I didn't wan't to hijack this thread, noticed there was no dedicated thread about these machines, so I thought we could open one here.

Here I quote member WYLD from the other thread :

As much as I hate to say it, the Wabeco is the BEST benchtop lathe for the money. Unless you need the ABSOLUTE precision of a Schaublin, the power & reliability of the Wabeco is unsurpassed. I've done my homework on all the available brands, the retrofits, the "improvements"...and dollar for dollar the Wabeco is the best benchtop lathe around. Hell, I don't even own one, but I have used several and have acquaintances who own them. They're almost impossible to find used...search eBay or Craigslist. The reason for that isn't because no one would be interested in a used Wabeco, but because the Wabeco owners aren't interested in "upgrading" their equipment. It's just that good. In Europe they're used as production machines. I'm sure that those in Europe can purchase a Wabeco for far less than I can purchase one in the US. Here a CC-6000e HighSpeed Wabeco Lathe would cost me $14,500 out of the box. No tooling, no accessories. But I could also put that machine to work TODAY and make that money back by the end of January simply by taking on all the small jobs that the shops around here are backlogged on. I could purchase two and pay them both off by February. I have considered it many times. The only drawbacks to me are the weight (which directly affects rigidity) and through bore. The ability to turn something occasionally in the 1.5-1.625" range would be VERY nice, due to some of the overflow work in my area that I could pick up. Without that, it would be several weeks of feast and a few of famine.

I'm personnaly interested in knowing more about these machines (newbie). More particularily, can someone comment a little about the Wabeco lathe models. How does the 2000/2400 compare to the 4000/6000? What is there to know about the round rods as opposed to more classic V-beds? More generally, what do you think are the signigicant difference between the different models that would make you choose one over the other? Do you think it would be unreasonnable for a beginner to pick up one of those?

Any discussion and thoughts about Wabeco Lathe in welcome

[307startup]

Tino_ale,

I would encourage you to contact the US distributor www.mdaprecision.com and speak to Marcus Menig, the propietor. He can give you far more information from the supplier end. He has some interesting projects going on. There is a yahoo users group for the Wabeco line. I believe his son is a student at CalPoly and they have a project to incorporate 5-axis capability to the F1210e milling machine. They are using Direct Motion components. That website is www.directmotion.com. I hope this helps. I would really like to see more users of the Wabeco machines put in their opinions and experiences here on the 'Zone.

[cliveastro]

I have just bought a Wabeco D4000e and it is very good, powerful and accurate. I considered a 2000 series and the only drawback for me is that to move the carriage you have to move it from the end. The other drawback is that the spigot diameter is 70mm not 72 and the holes are on a 82 pcd not 84for a 100mm chuck. So you have to buy Wabeco tooling or modify standard.

Clive