What's new
What's new
By:
Advanced search…

Vaguely interesting new CNC lathe

  • Thread starter D. Thomas
  • Start date
  • Replies 15
  • Views 3,892
D

D. Thomas

Guest
Small $23,000 machine. Dumb name, but the slanted gang tool carriage seems a step in the right direction..

www.ameritechcnc.com/Payday.htm

Note the "Exact" cnc micro mill also....

[This message has been edited by D. Thomas (edited 11-02-2002).]
 
I am also looking at a future purchase of a small gang type CNC lathe such as the two mentioned above. I feel a need to get involved in the market for smaller parts that these machines are built for { 5c collet}. I have looked at the Omniturn and was quite impressed. However, after speaking to several owners of the machine, the applications for such a machine are extremely light duty {aluminum, 360 brass, etc.}. Do not expect to take cuts up to .100 dp. on 12L14. The machine simply lacks the balls. Operators of the Omniturn do tell me that the repeatability is incredible.

You might want to also check out SNK's GTExpress. I understand this machine, although the same HP as the Omniturn, is built to take heavier cuts. It is manufactured in Florida. Base price around $32,000.00.

I would love to hear from Omniturn or Ameritech owners in regards to their experiences with the machines.
 
Never go to small... If you need to take heavy cuts in tough materials, go with the largest machine that you can afford. We have made the mistake in the past of buying machines becouse there capacity matched what we thought we needed and we allways have been burned by that. When ever posible match the HP requirements first and then look for size and price. You can do small work in a big lathe, but you can almost never do big work in a small one.

Best of luck on your search.
 
A machine such as the Omniturn is built to produce a variety of parts within a specified niche. I am not interested in manufacturing parts larger than a 1" dia., hence the need for a smaller machine.

Sure, you can produce small parts in a larger machine. However, is it the most economical and efficient way to produce parts under 1" round?

I own five CNC turning centers {Mazaks} 8" to 12" chucks. I will not take on jobs that constantly require the machine to max out on RPM's. It will just kill the machine.

A small CNC gang type lathe with a barfeed magazine would increase my exposure to a new market and also come with the benefit of not having to hire more labor which is important in these economic conditions. The machine can run unattended and even "lights out" in some cases. A full time employee at, say, $25,000/$30,000 per year would not be needed. I may, however need to employ temp help for deburring, second ops., etc. on a minimal pay scale. Automating is a key factor in surviving in this global economy.
 
I bought a used Omniturn GT-75 about a year ago. I had looked for about 2 years at every CNC lathe that I could. I wanted something that was in the 5c collet category and small footprint was very important too. It has an inverter drive so I could power it with 220 single phase power. I do >95% stainless and have accidentely take a few very heavy cuts. I wouldn't recommend .100 depth of cut in stainless but the machine has survived me quite well so far. I have since seen more competition to the Omniturn line but haven't seen any that I would chose. The support and responsiveness from Omniturn has been excellent. To Mazakman: If you have any specific questions about the Omniturn let me know, I'm certainly no expert but I'll see if I can answer them.

I should mention also that I have no interest or ties to the company, I have just been a satisfied customer.

John in Burlington, Vt
 
i also own a omni turn and they are fast and no turret index problems. we retrofitted a wide base dovetail hardinge hc (wide dovetail machine is the better choice for retrofit). here is a tip for laying out your tooling plate.if you use it as a bar machine put the cutoff on the far side of the x travel and .050"from limiting out of travel the x travel and on the opposite side of the table (closest side )within ,010" of the end of travel use this position for center drilling. there is only 10" of x travel and by putting these tools at the end of the slide you now have 9.940" left towork with yet. center drills always have same x value to drill and cutoff's when programmed usually go to x-.025 to -.05" we have a tool plate that can make any part up to 3/4" diameter and 3" long without ever changing a tool out of the plate.
i also like the old mori-seki SL1. its actually the size of a phone booth. fast and very shall footprint.
pat
 
I ran a wasino gang tool type lathe for years and was always impressed with how trouble free and adaptable it was. I broached, swaged, gundrilled and balance turned with it in addition to all types of more conventional turning. It was an LG-81 model about 1988 vintage. The 4 M-code outlets for the live tooling gave endless options to turn and off stuff like coolant pumps or switches. The live tooling was kind of like a router motor with a gear box and collet. No hog milling but light milling and drilling it worked fine. We built a riser for the table and used standard Hardinge 3/8" shank tooling and holders from Hardinge manual chuckers, very cheap and you could load up the table with up to 16 tools. The only limit was the offsets available and if needed even that could be programmed around. the machine was very flexable as to what it could do. we machined mostly difficult stainless material. It cost 88,000 new and when I saw the EBAY Wasino posted in this thread for a buy it now of 8000.00 I thought it was quite a deal. The high bid was only about 2000.00, it did not sell.
This is a great japanese machine and I am sure that it would kill most other machines of this style.
 
I purchased the KIA Kit30B Slant bed, 6000 rpm spindle, 5c tru position collet chuck, and 6" hydro chuck. Produced 500,000 pcs.
aprox. 35 days production that paid for the lathe, 2 operators running 22 hrs a day with OT and left a profit on the table.
Machine has worked for 770 nearly non stop.
Its in perfect condition, and I plan to retrofit it for total automation loading and unloading or sell it before I move the shop.

eddiez
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

N
new not new, got used junk that wants to live again.
Replies
8
Views
675
Northman Ind.
N
C
Samurai Mini Desktop CNC
Replies
12
Views
2K
mnl
M
M
CNC lathe tool nose compensation (G41/G42) troubles
Replies
8
Views
1K
DouglasJRizzo
DouglasJRizzo
Martin P
EMO
Replies
10
Views
971
neanderthal mach
N
H
New machine day - Brother S700X2 (UK install)
Replies
6
Views
2K
Pete Deal
P








 

ABOUT PRACTICAL MACHINIST

With more than 10.6 million unique visitors over the last year, Practical Machinist is the most visited site for metalworking professionals. Practical Machinist is the easiest way to learn new techniques, get answers quickly and discuss common challenges with your peers. Register for the world’s largest manufacturing technology forum for free today to stay in the know.

Learn more about us.

STAY CONNECTED

Facebook Instagram YouTube LinkedIn Pinterest Twitter Tiktok

Register Become a forum member. Register today.

Sign Up Sign up for our e-newsletter.

© 2024 Copyright Practicalmachinist.com. All Rights reserved.

Back
Top