The Warner & Swasey AB and AC are very good machines, I happen to like the 1 AB or AC the best of the lot.
Gahr Machinery in Cleveland has parts and tooling.
You really want the operator's manual and tooling catalog so that you get an idea of the proceedures of running and set up.
The power feed and rapid traverse transmissions and clutches are separate units and can be taken out and repaired or rebuilt without taking the entire machine down. There are or at least usta be shops that specialized in the re working of these units. Gahr may still do that.
Read as much as you can find on the machines so that you know what you are getting into.
Nowadays, CNC is a knee-jerk reaction. It doesn't have to be that way.
The AB's and AC's were once the part of the might of American industry. They are powerful, productive and dependable. Their set up is rather simple and they don't require much diddling with once the job is under way.
You don't need no Prima-Donna programmer and when the machine gets broke, it can be fixed without a Congressional Appropriation of funds and your having to quarter a tech who comes in from a country far away.
There are ABC models that can convert from bar to chucking work.
One characteristic of the chuckers is the ability to change chucking pressures while running. High holding power for roughing and low holding power for finishing. You can manually set either holding power.
The AB and AC machines are practically identical except that the AB's have the bar feed and the hydraulic cut off station.
Majot parts and a lot of tooling are commom.
