I'm the new owner of a '98 Fadal 3016, and while I've designed a lot of machined parts and made more than a few myself, this is my first 'real' machine tool (the predecessor to this was a CNCed RF45 that was more project than part maker).

So far, the machine has had power for a week, but is still waiting for me to finish wiring the compressor control box and VFD to get air. Most of these photos were taken at the start of or during cleaning it out, which occupied most of last week, and this week I've been helping a family member replace the two air conditioners in my house, so limited progress.

Album of install and machine here: Fadal 3016 - Album on Imgur

So, the good to start:

1. Everything (electrical) runs.
2. Y and Z ways are clean (except for back few inches of Y ways, which have rust).
3. Oil lines are intact and working.
4. -5A controller.
5. Rigid tapping.
6. Spindle runout looks good (need to run a tenths indicator on it now), and spindle feels well lubricated and smooth.

The bad:

1. Way covers are beat up and rusty, nothing that can't be fixed as far as I can tell though.
2. The table is out 0.0065 over the X, 0.003 over the Y. Everything slopes down from the back right corner, front left corner is lowest.
3. The ends of the X-axis ways look bad. Really bad to me, but I'm hoping to be wrong.
4. I strongly suspect there are Turcite issues based on #2 and #3, but haven't had a chance to pull the table off yet. I don't see Turcite peeking out the ends of anything.
5. Backlash settings on the machine were X 8, 10, 14; Y 18, 20, 20; Z 20. I haven't confirmed these across the range yet, but my initial numbers at the center of X and Y were 0.002 and 0.0035" respectively. The X sounds like it has a bad bearing (but maybe that's cast iron dragging where Turcite is gone?). I'm gonna go through and start checking couplings and stuff, then replace bearings if that doesn't help.

Most of the stuff I want to make on this probably doesn't care about the table being out, and I can always drop a fixture plate on top and skim it to match. But,I'm assuming if there's missing Turcite there is no reason to continue running the machine as is, so correct me if I'm wrong.

If the Turcite needs fixed I will probably hand it off to a professional to do (for the same reason I'm not a good welder, I suspect I'm not gonna be able to focus long enough to get a skill like scraping down). I've found a couple places within driving range to take it to (but I won't turn away suggestions).

Million dollar question is, do the X axis ways need reground? Is there something else I should measure to determine it?