[EmeraldIsleforg]

Does anyone have/use an OmniTurn GT-75? I'm looking for reviews on what you think of it as a production lathe? We have a 2.8" diameter, 1.2" long, part that needs the OD turned & faced so we only need a small, relatively simple CNC lathe. A salesman for this company stopped by a few months ago & dropped off a brochure about it. We're going to be running 500 to 1000 parts a week on it. I'm just curious on how they stack up to other lathes in a similar size. I'm also interested in any suggestions on a similar machine that would do the job as well.

Thanks!

Mike

[fizzissist]

Keep in mind....

If you're going to go to the trouble and expense of buying, installing, and learning a CNC machine, think about future expansion and needs.

A CNC machine will open new doors for work, so be careful not to limit yourself and buy something that will limit your potential.

I don't know anything about this company or its products. My first caveat on looking at this machine is the gang tooling. I'm not big on gang tooling..it limits you.

[Delw]

Does anyone have/use an OmniTurn GT-75? I'm looking for reviews on what you think of it as a production lathe? We have a 2.8" diameter, 1.2" long, part that needs the OD turned & faced so we only need a small, relatively simple CNC lathe. A salesman for this company stopped by a few months ago & dropped off a brochure about it. We're going to be running 500 to 1000 parts a week on it. I'm just curious on how they stack up to other lathes in a similar size. I'm also interested in any suggestions on a similar machine that would do the job as well.

Thanks!

Mike

Mike
th omni turn is a kick ass quick faster than **** machine and extreamly accurate.
your parts depending the type of marterial may be a problem,
you realize you will have to turn it with a over sized dia collet. word of advice DONT use any collets but hardinge of this side cause all the others DONT repeat and are junk.
one problem I can see is the dia you will have to turn with a 5/8 boring bar, dependiing it it sticks out too far it will vibrate even on alum.
Ive owned omniturns since 1994 and they are still running and kick ass machines and hold tenths all day long, Ive turned everything from brass to inconel and tit.
hard materials I try to keep below .750 dia steel alum brass etc etc I will go as big as the thing will turn with out hitting the table. your not going to hog it off, depth of cut maybe .025 max at that Dia, not because of HP but to to vibration of the tooling.
on step collets or those extended dia collets ( running slugs) the machine runs fantastic you just have to adust your machining a tad to work.


tooling is the major draw back on a small machine like that due to the tooling your using isnt rigid enough.

If you have any questions feel free to pm me. Ive turned some amzing things on an omni that should be done on a bigger machine and they worked just fine. the cycle time on omnis you just cant beat.

the best od turning tool I have found is a left hand 5/8 sanvik ccmt 2.5 ( small ccmt). and always run oil, your tools will last longer than anything and your machine will last forever.


Delw

[BFHammer]

I agree with the last post. Great machine, especially for secondary ops since there is no door interlock. If you stay safe and keep the coolant out of your face you make more parts/ hour than anything else I can think of. I have a rhino bar attached to mine. Great niche machine.

If you can use an internal mandrel on the part you described that would be great. My second choice would be a clutch collet. Not balsy (never could thread 1/2" pipe) mostly due to the air collet closer flexing. Just fast and can keep tenths all day.

Some maintenance pains but if you stay on top of it it's not a problem. Great example was we were hooking the bar feed up, former boss probed wrong pair of wires and sent 220 down a 12 volt line. Fried an opto-isolator on the board. Omniturn gave me the Radio Shack part number to replace.....$6.
Imagine what Fanuc would have done to me.

[DSpeck]

I use the Omniturn at work, and while it is great when working on parts around 1" and smaller, you may have problems with doing the larger parts you are asking about. The tooling will vibrate if it's at longer reaches. However, if all you are doing is facing and OD turning for this part, one good rigid tool will do the job. The Omni itself will hold good tolerances for sure, as the other posters mentioned, but this is kind of on the larger diameter for it.

Using oil means you don't have to lubricate the ways or screws, but it's messy and makes the inside of the lathe nasty. We got ours from somebody who used oil, and we've never managed to clean it out completely. We use synthetic water-based coolant, and it just washes off the finished parts (and your hands, parts boxes, etc.) Cuts have never been a problem with it, either.