My new pair of SL-1s!

[damae]

It was a bit scary hauling a trailer weighing 13,000lb down I5, but I made it home with my two new (to me) Mori Seiki lathes!

One is a 1980 model SL-1 with the single-line Yasnac control. This is the machine that the machine shop manager was sad to see go, because it still held tolerance and was perfect, mechanically. Unfortunately, it is reported to have a power supply problem. They decided it was too expensive to retrofit and so reluctantly decided to let it go.

The "new" one is a 1981 with the CRT Yasnac 2000 control. The electronics are good, but the turret was reported to have problems sticking on occasion.

My plan is to attempt to get both running. If the controls are difficult/expensive to fix, I'll convert to Mach3. Anyone know a good 5HP DC Motor controller?

Anyway, the two machines are squeezed into my 2-car garage, waiting for me to install a large rotary phase converter.

[damae]

Who wants a car in the garage anyway!?

[damae]

Here's how I got these lathes into the garage.

I've done a lot of thinking about the best way to move machinery. This time I took a new approach and rented an 8000lb reach forklift. It was $230 for the one-day rental of a Gehl 35' forklift. They delivered and took it away for just $100! Not a bad deal, considering they had to bring it on a semi truck. It weighs 22,000lbs, so too heavy for me to trailer on my own. I consider the delivery $100 well spent! The thing is huge. In one picture you can see how it dwarfs my 8000lb Hyster S80.

Funny thing is that I rented a lift truck when I already have a Hyster sitting in my driveway. But it has a leaking main mast seal. The irony is that the rented Gehl forklift blew a hydraulic steering line while we were using it and I wound up with a few gallons of hydraulic fluid on my driveway anyway.

Back to the move. It was nice having this reach forklift, because most forklifts are too tall to drive into a regular 2-car garage, my Hyster S80 included. Conventional forklifts will help you get your machine tool off the truck and _almost_ into the garage. With the mast touching the garage door trim, your mill/lathe/surface grinder is still sitting part of the way out of the garage. That leaves you wrestling the machine the rest of the way by hand.

With the reach forklift, we simply drove up to the garage and with the flick of a lever, boomed out until the lathe was 12' into the garage! Of course you better get positioned correctly by the time you boom out that far. Extended 12' out, the forklift lacked the needed power to lift the 5500lb machine back up once we dropped it.

Did I say DROPPED? A very experienced rigger that I hired recently said "Drop?? We don't say drop. We say 'placed!' "

Anyway, it was very convenient to reach all the way into the garage and just set it down where I wanted it. The reach also came in handy when I had to reach the second lathe which was sitting too far in on the trailer to reach using a regular forklift with 48" forks. And it was nice that getting the forklift back to the rental shop was someone else's problem. I simply called and told them to mark it as "off rent."

[kek_63]

I recently picked up a twin to your 1981 also with a 2000GII controller. Did you get any documentation - manuals/wiring diagrams with yours? I'll be happy to pay for your time to scan.

My 3-jaw chuck is also missing some parts; if you ever have your's apart I would really appreciate a few pics.

If you are new to these machines, there is a lot of info on the Mori Seiki Underground Forum at http://nosala.com/phpBB2/ .

Later,
Keith

[damae]

Hi Keith,

I have a stack of manuals about 300mm tall! No need to pay me for scanning... it just comes down to when I can get time to do it all. If you need anything in particular, such as a schematic, I can hunt it down and scan those pages sooner.

I don't have a 3-jaw chuck. My lathes both came equipped with 3J Collet Noses and a heap of matching collets. Any hint on where I would go for a 3-jaw chuck?

More pictures coming.. just have to get some time to sort them out.

[kek_63]

I would appreciate anything you have for the 1981. What I need most right now is wiring schematics (for machine and controller) and ladder (logic) diagrams. I need help with the startup relay sequence - not getting any power to the power supply. This machine sat for about a year before I got it so it might be as simple as a stuck switch or ??

Might help to post a query on the Mori Underground for a chuck. Did you get any tool holders?

Thanks for your assistance,
Keith

[damae]

Yes, I got an assortment of toolholders that I need to clean up and sort.

I have wiring schematics coming out my ears. Some of them are B-size prints and quite a few of them are hand-drawn! I have access to a fast scanner on Monday and will try to get some scanned.

By the way, I just discovered that my 1981 machine is an SL-1H, which I think means it has the high speed spindle option. I'm having bit of trouble figuring out what style of chuck would fit these machines. In the manual it says "A1-5," but the 3J collet chucks that I have mounted in the machine now are supposed to fit A5.

[kek_63]

By the way, I just discovered that my 1981 machine is an SL-1H, which I think means it has the high speed spindle option. I'm having bit of trouble figuring out what style of chuck would fit these machines. In the manual it says "A1-5," but the 3J collet chucks that I have mounted in the machine now are supposed to fit A5.

We really do have twin machines - mine is also an SL-1H. And yes the "H" stands for high speed (5000 rpm - I believe). Mine just has a 5c collet chuck though. My 3-jaw is only a housing and jaws so I'll need to find or make the pieces that actually draw the jaws in/out. If I can get this thing running it will have a fixture plate for an aluminum casting mounted most of the time anyway.

"A5" is the size of the mounting taper. A1-5 has two bolt patterns - inside and outside. A2-5 has only the outside pattern. So it should stand to reason that any A5 chuck would fit our machines.

I only got one piece of documentation with my machine, but it's probably one of the most important. In the bottom of one of the cabinet doors I found the original oil-soaked parameter list complete with penciled in changes. I was thrilled to find that!

These pictures of my machine I found on Craigslist after I bought it
Turns out the original owner and the new shop owner had different ideas about who actually owned the machines left behind. A small handfull of cash took care of that in a hurry

Later,
Keith

[Caravera]

This brings back some memories.

I learned to operate and program on a SL-1 with the single line control.
I absolutly loved the machine and i actualy do miss working with it.

Congratulations with youre mori's and i hope you get them running soon again.
Keep us posted how things are going.

[damae]

This brings back some memories.

I learned to operate and program on a SL-1 with the single line control.
I absolutly loved the machine and i actualy do miss working with it.

Congratulations with youre mori's and i hope you get them running soon again.
Keep us posted how things are going.

Thanks! I'll do my best to keep the progress posted here.

[damae]

Hey Keith,

I found a manual online for the Yaskawa spindle drivef -- the Versadrive 626MT.

http://www.yaskawa.com/site/dmspindle.nsf/link2/TKUR-5EKSVU/$file/NTR0010.pdf

I'm scanning some of the other manuals tonight. My time is limited right now, so I'll post them as I have them scanned.

[kek_63]

The spindle driver on my SL-1H is a CIMR-MT-7.5K. thanks for the link to the manual.


All I can say is thank you very much for any scanning and posting you do!

Later,
Keith