[kstrauss]

I spent much of the afternoon making a spindle mount for lathe tooling. I hope to find time to finish it early next week and will post some photos when everything is together. To improve the rigidity/repeatability over the Tormach QCTP when changing tooling I ordered a Dorian AXA QCTP, a Dorian #6 multi-tool holder and some Chinese AXA holders. I'm not sure that I believe it but the Dorian claims (Tool Post Toolholders « Dorian Tool International Incorporated) repeatability of 0.0001 and was priced accordingly.

[kstrauss]

I got a shipping notice today for my RapidTurn so I guess that it will be here next week.

[Tbkahuna]

I got the same word. Mine arrives in town on Monday. I'm really looking forward to using it!

[Tbkahuna]

The Eagle has landed! I got mine a while ago and got it uncrated and up on the machine to check out. The crating was really good. The chuck, manual, draw tube, and programming keys were in a separate box on the crate. I didn't weigh it, but the crate said 41Kg, which is about 90 pounds. The Rapidturn was easier to set on the machine than the 8" rotary table... quite a bit easier and that was with the motor on it.

I am finishing up my gang tool set up and will then give it a good workout when I can free up a few hours from my day job. I can't wait to see the tool setups the rest of the users come up with.

It is still looking like this will be just what I needed and a good improvement over the Duality Lathe. If my gang tool setup works out this will be outstanding! In a tiny space I will have a good cnc lathe setup and likely without any manual tools changes after getting it setup. I am still not thrilled about the programming key for the drive and changing cables, but that is a good price to pay for the integrated speed control, CSS, etc.

[kstrauss]

The Eagle has also landed in small-town Ontario, Canada! Although I won't have time to do any real testing for the next week or more I couldn't resist taking a peek. The RapidTurn came packed in a heavy plywood crate strapped to a 2x3 foot pallet. Rather than a crate that is nailed on all sides (like the 770 crate) this one is in three pieces (top, sides, bottom) with no problems opening -- just cut the steel strapping. The RapidTurn seems very well finished and sturdy. Most of the frame is from 20mm aluminum. Unfortunately there is no lifting point nor any obvious place to add one. Fortunately it is fairly light (perhaps 70 pounds?) and can be made even lighter by removing the motor.