[peter.blais]

Hi there,

It's finally time to add a lathe to my business. The parts I need to make are mostly steel, aluminum, and titanium- up to 6" diameter. Most are short- .25 to 2" long.

Damn near any lathe can fit these primary parts into it. The titanium ones are quite small, 1" od x .25" long- approximately, and high volume, so I'd prefer to use a bar feeder or at least a bar support setup with a puller.

My main requirement is that the machine is reliable. I have a parts loader, so to speak, but I am the only one who designs the parts, answers any / all technical stuff, does all the R&D, orders stock, buys tools, writes the code, etc. In other words, I really cannot afford to be scratching my head on how to fix a machine.

Another requirement is that said machine must not look like a boat anchor, and I definitely do not want something which leaks hydraulic oil like a sieve. My shop is a clean, tidy, R&D and engineering facility which does some low volume production as a secondary thing. I want to keep it clean!

A secondary wish would be to be able to prototype these parts which are about 1 diameter x 12 to 18" long. I realize this puts me into needing a tailstock. They are not immensely precise and I could probably flip the parts if needed. If this puts me into a machine which won't be in my budget without hurting my other requirements- oh well.

I do not need live tooling.

I have $30-40k to spend.

So, any particular suggestions on which lathe I should be looking for? I am looking at some mid 90's CL-20's and such at the moment. I understand the Yasnac control is definitely not desirable. Anything else I should know would be great.

Here's an example:

1995 Mori-Seiki CL-20A W/MSC-518 Control - eBay (item 160484813206 end time Dec-22-10 12:48:11 PST)

Now, this one claims to be "refurbished"- I suspect that means cleaned and painted. LOL

Thanks in advance for whatever guidance...

[underthetire]

for sure stay away from the Yasnac stuff. I would look for a CL25 if you can, or even a SL150. They are out there for your price range for sure. You might want to look at Okumas too. I was the service manager for both, and can tell you they really match quality pretty well. Even the new Okuma ESL series (wich you can buy new for not too much more) that are built in Taiwan are really pretty good machines. What ever you do, stay away from the CL150's with the touch screen control, they run fine but were kind of a bastard lathe.

[Perfect Circle]

What I would get..
MORI SEIKI GLOBAL WEB SITE | PRODUCTS | DuraTurn Series
[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddK1lAX7bgU"]YouTube - Ellison Technologies - Mori Seiki DuraTurn 2050 Demo[/nomedia]

[TheBigJW]

What I would get..
MORI SEIKI GLOBAL WEB SITE | PRODUCTS | DuraTurn Series
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddK1lAX7bgU"]YouTube - Ellison Technologies - Mori Seiki DuraTurn 2050 Demo[/url]

If you go this route make sure you make a contract that incorporates a discount if the machine is late. I waited an extra 5 weeks past when I was told the machine was originally to be delivered. Then after paying the electricians over time to wire the machine at night it sat there for more than a week waiting for them to come and install the machine. It was a new Duravertical 5100. Very happy with the machine but it was a very poor delivery and install.

John

[peter.blais]

Those duraturns are what, 60-80k new?

My 40k budget was because I'm not financing this machine...

I was looking at SL150's but most are loaded down with live tooling and a lot of stuff which would be nice- but it drives the price up pretty quick. That's why those older CL20's and such caught my eye.

[underthetire]

If you not in a hurry, keep looking. A old customer of mine bought 2 used SL150 sub spindles for 42K each. Look at used Okuma's as well. I'm a fan of both. If you can find a later Mori or an Okuma with IGF, the conversational programming can be very handy. Cl25's were the best all around CL made, box ways and stout. So try to find one of those.