Ikegai A20 vs Mori Seiki MR2000

I ran across two lathes - both in excellent condition (by that I mean they look to have had very little use, clean, nothing damaged, with manuals, no coolant stains - they both look like demonstrator models) - An Ikegai A20 with what appears to be about 36 inches between centers and a Mori-Seiki MR2000 with about 40 inches between centers.

I am looking for a lathe for my shop at home and I have an MR2000 8020 at work that is a very good machine that gets daily use.

Both machines look like they came out of a university machine shop with very little use. The Ikegai is for all intents and purposes a new machine, no discernible wear, ways are bright, gears shift crisply, tailstock slides effortlessly and has a two speed handwheel / quill. Buying this lathe would be more of a passionate buy than a practical buy.

The Mori is more than adequate for any need that I have at home - and is a good bit cheaper. Either lathe would save me the 40 minute drive into work on the weekends and/or make home shop projects easier to spend more time at home instead of always at work.

Having never seen an A20 before - it is quite a machine, especially for as good a condition as it is in.





Am I comparing apples and oranges here?

Hi,

I have never work with a Mori Seiki, so I can't say anything about that machine. What I can tell you is that I personally own a A20 and love that machine. It is rare to find a big machine like this that is so easy to work with, and allow you to also work on smaller piece with a top speed of 2000rpm. It would be a 40'' between center, they never made 36''. (the most common are 20 X 60, but they're also is 20 X 40, which is what I own). Be prepare to work hard to move this beast though, it is 5500lbs! This machine is also great for thread as it does metric, standard and module (for worms). That machine is not young, because I think it's in 1976 (or late 70's anyways) that Daewoo took over the Ikegai manual lathes, so it became a Daewoo A20, different name, same machine.

Let me know if you want to know anything else about it,

Alex

I too have an Ikegai A20. Made about 1966,had a turner on it full time until I bought it about five years back.Still sounds like a sewing machine.
Has loads of features not common on other machines and very useful.
Most useful is the two speed tailstock,feed big drills effortlessly with one hand and the ability to change speed from the saddle.
Downside if there are any is only 2" up the spindle,may only be 50mm and it`s extremely low and kills my back.The latter problem will be fixed
when it gets a permanent position as I`ll bring the foundation up about 9".
Btw,the one in the pictures looks excellent.

Mark is right, the machine is very low (it's Japaneses, made for shorter people!) I also fix the problem by making a pallet in 2X6 with 4X4's as cross member, and putting the lathe on it. The dimension up the spindle is Morse taper #6, so it start at about 2 1/2'' and ends at 1 7/8''.

PM sent to Motion Guru.

Chuck

I too have an Ikegai 20 by 60. not as nice looking as the one your looking at, but it sure has a lot of features you dont often see on lathes
-ball screw drive for threading
-single tooth dog clutch,for rapid threading, like Hardings.
- hardened,replacable ways on bed
-tailstock, two speed as mentioned, also rolls on sping loaded rollers.
-built in digital counters for carriage and crossfeed
-auto matic carriage stop on left side of carriage, adjustable for sensitivity.
There seems to be a few Ikegais in Alberta, the local air base had one in their workshop.
Doug, in Coldlake

doug931 said:

I too have an Ikegai 20 by 60. not as nice looking as the one your looking at, but it sure has a lot of features you dont often see on lathes
-ball screw drive for threading
-single tooth dog clutch,for rapid threading, like Hardings.
- hardened,replacable ways on bed
-tailstock, two speed as mentioned, also rolls on sping loaded rollers.
-built in digital counters for carriage and crossfeed
-auto matic carriage stop on left side of carriage, adjustable for sensitivity.
There seems to be a few Ikegais in Alberta, the local air base had one in their workshop.
Doug, in Coldlake

Click to expand...

Hi Doug,

You said the A20 has the single tooth dog clutch for threading, that's one thing I did not know. According to the manual, once you start threading, you do not disengage the machine, you put it in reverse once you are done your pass. So you are saying that if I'm using the lever that you use to engage your threading (or feeds, depending on what you do) it will always fall back into the right place? No cross threading? I will have to experiment, because that would be a lot better than what I'm doing right now!

Alex

Alex,you and Doug are both right.The manual does say just use the forward/stop/reverse switch when threading and leave the leadscrew engaged.
But it also says there is a single tooth clutch which can be used for BSW or in your country UN only.
The only time I could see you wishing to use the dog clutch would be in a blind bore or threading to a shoulder,but with a bit of practice reversing the motor can be quite accurate too.

motion guru said:

Both machines look like they came out of a university machine shop with very little use. The Ikegai is for all intents and purposes a new machine, no discernible wear, ways are bright, gears shift crisply, tailstock slides effortlessly and has a two speed handwheel / quill. Buying this lathe would be more of a passionate buy than a practical buy.

The Mori is more than adequate for any need that I have at home - and is a good bit cheaper. Either lathe would save me the 40 minute drive into work on the weekends and/or make home shop projects easier to spend more time at home instead of always at work.

Having never seen an A20 before - it is quite a machine, especially for as good a condition as it is in.

Click to expand...

The Ikegai looks good but doesn't really look "pristine" in the second photo anyway (as an aside, what is that screwball looking contactor box with the E stop, on the front all about ?)

Good thread.

I have the D A20 x 60 and love it. It is way too low, planning on moving it a bit and install a 6x6 with 2x6 lumber base to raise it up 7 inches or so.

Also, love the two piece tailstock as well. Just drilled a two inch hole in 4140 using a small pilot hole.

Oh,

Could somebody explain about the dog clutch? I believe mine has a auto stop on the saddle, not sure if it works or even how it works. Is this part of the dog clutch system?

I don't have instant plug reversing, I think this us due to rewiring it to 220v ? Has the majority of forward speeds and only a single slow reverse. I have to let it coast to a stop, as the star delta system does not work now.
After reading about it, sure wish I could get it to work.

Thanks for the idea on raising the machine with timbers, this will make all the difference.

Glenn