Though only a hobby machinist, I just acquired a 4,000 pound, old vertical milling machine. I am told this machine started life as a CNC. At some time it was stripped of all electronics and made totally manual. It has travels of 30", 16",and 6" with a knee travel that looks between 15"- 20". Amazingly so far I've found no backlash.
I am about to refurbish it and return it to CNC using Mach 3, Geckos, etc.
I can find almost nothing on the internet except that the name Positool was registered in 1969. And I was told by the dealer that he believes the machine was built in Japan for a New York company.
I'm looking for anyone who might know or remember the machine, maybe even have a manual. I'd like to know how old it is and there are a few areas that puzzle me; places where something was removed but I don't know what. If someone thinks they can help I'll give more specific questions and pictures.
Many thanks for any help.
Ozzie
I stumbled upon this posting just by chance, and I can probably provide you with some of the information you're looking for. Absolutely, I remember the Positool! My father founded Autonumerics, Inc. in the mid-1960s and was President of the company from its founding until 1979. He started the company in Westbury, New York and moved the headquarters to a larger plant Hauppauge, New York in the early 70s. They also had a subsidiary in England called Posidata, Ltd.
The dealer is incorrect; the machine was definitely built in the Long Island, New York plant, as were all of Autonumerics' products. Is it a Positool 900? If so, it's likely that it's mid 1970s. We had lots of manuals for years; unfortunately my father passed away 2 years ago, and I suspect the manuals weren't kept after the house was sold. If you're still interested I can check with other family members to see if they know what happened to the manuals.
I was an employee at Autonumerics at that time. The machine probably was a Shizouka (Japan). We installed the motors, ball screws and Positool control. Some even had ATC's!
Autonumerics was a great co to work for until a Chinese partner became involved. The iron went from Japanese to Chinese and we spent all of time fixing them until the doors closed. Sad times.
l am John Pashley from Basingstoke, England; I was Director of Engineering at Posidata Ltd., the UK associate company of Autonumerics. Myself and two others made the deal with Warren and Walter, your father, in 1972. Howie Parker (let go by NASA) joined soon after, and brought in the first microprocessor, Intel 4004 & 8008, to launch the first CNC.
Walter and your mother (Betty?) stayed at our house for a while; he had difficulty driving on the proper side of the road!
Came across this link by chance
Sorry to hear Walter passed away
Autonumerics S-2 CNC in original condition - considering retrofit
Hello Gentlemen,
I found this post while looking for retrofits for my Autonumerics S-2 NC Mill. I was lucky enough to acquire the actual NC mill from my school where I studied Mechanical Technology and also why it is in perfect condition.
I have the S-2 Model Ser. No:56021 bought originally in 1977 approx.
I have the original operator's manual and most of the drawings for the electrics and all the mechanical drawings. I'm eventually considering a retrofit of the electronics as a hobby since my y-axis driver card let go last year but could probably be fixed. (I'm retired now).
If I can be of any help to you Ozzie or anyone else, please do not hesitate to contact me anytime.
Wow Guys,
I followed my original post for quite a while then just stopped looking. Just today I discovered a message from Eddie that he posted a week ago. What great news that someone remembers, and in fact were part of the company.
It sounds like Eddie has all the stuff, manuals, drawings, etc., but it would be cool if George could find info too.
My machine like Eddie's is an S-2 NC Mill, and I found a date on the oiler motor, 1977.
Anyone have any idea how many were built?
Regards and thanks,
Ozzie ozzieii@msn.com
I remember working with two of them. One was connected to a Bridgeport with stepping motors & the other was connected to a much larger manual mill with auto tool changer & also had a 4th axis rotary with stepping motor. The problem with those controls was that after a few hours or a few days the machines would go a little crazy & just mess up. So that was our queue to shut it down & pull every board & lift & press down all the socketed IC's. This cleaned the contacts. Turned it on & everything was ok again till a few hours or few days later. The contacts are only tin plated not gold plated & our shop wasn't air conditioned so my guess is temps & humidity would affect it.
I just read your post this evening so I thought I would bring back some memories for all and turned on my Positool Autonumerics Mill to take some pictures. Everything still runs perfectly but I will be upgrading the electronics someday soon. I'll keep the Positool console etc in case it's useful someday for anyone who wants to keep it for historical value. I have many "old spare" stepper driver boards, of varying versions it seems, but all my original XYZ stepper drivers ...and tape reader .. and paper punch still work fine!
This actual machine was brand new in 1976 when I attended Numerical Control Milling classes on it. I then purchased it from my former school about 15 years ago where it had been forgotten in a corner somewhere having been replaced by modern machines.
I had a positool lathe. It had all kind of switchs on the front. It read paper tape. When the air Compressor shut off I would have to replace plugin chips on the boards.I was able to put stepper drivers on and use mach3 on the desk top
Anyone remember Autonumerics Positool
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