New production TL-1, who has one?

Dennis_in_VA · May 15, 2015

Who has one of the new TL-1 lathes?

Likes?

Dislikes?

Thinking about getting one but want some real world feedback from actual users.

athack · May 17, 2015

I can't give an opinion because I don't have a new one, have a 2008. What is the new production machine?

Dennis_in_VA · May 17, 2015

2014-2015 machine. The new updated version of the TL-1 which is basically, from what I can gather, a bobbed off TL-2 without the handles and a standard feature enclosure.

RC Mech · May 17, 2015

What makes this TL1 a "production" machine? Counterintuitive considering Toolroom Lathe. Does it have an actual turret as standard equip? Far better coolant recovery system?

The regular TL1's handles ("nut-busters", as they're known...) are awful. The action isn't smooth and there are spots where you can feel the gears engaging either the rack or the reduction gear. Very tedious if you use them for set-up, geared so high you can't use them for anything else. So it seems eliminating the hand-wheels and providing a full enclosure is an upgrade, even though it's obvious it was done for liability reasons.

How well the enclosure seals is something I'd be interested in.

metalmaster10 · May 17, 2015

Our TL-1 is only a couple months old. No trouble. Haven't used it a lot, but it is very user friendly, just not fast. But, that is to be expected.
I got almost all the extras. Full enclosure, tailstock, turret, coolant. I'm not impressed with the chuck they charged $1300 for! I plan to yank it off and put on a 16C collet chuck with foot pedal.
By the time you add all the extras it gets pretty pricey... Could get a used "real" production machine for the money, but the TL is very convenient for onset-twosey things and for new folks to learn.
My .02

athack · May 19, 2015

metalmaster10 said:
Our TL-1 is only a couple months old. No trouble. Haven't used it a lot, but it is very user friendly, just not fast. But, that is to be expected.
I got almost all the extras. Full enclosure, tailstock, turret, coolant. I'm not impressed with the chuck they charged $1300 for! I plan to yank it off and put on a 16C collet chuck with foot pedal.
By the time you add all the extras it gets pretty pricey... Could get a used "real" production machine for the money, but the TL is very convenient for onset-twosey things and for new folks to learn.
My .02

How do you like the turret?

tc1999 · May 19, 2015

Are you familiar with the TL's? The old ones are quite handy however I'd run from the new (full enclosed) ones.

Also...as mentioned before I also wouldn't exactly describe tool room lathes as production lathes

Matt@RFR · May 19, 2015

tc1999 said:
Are you familiar with the TL's? The old ones are quite handy however I'd run from the new (full enclosed) ones.

Having never seen old or new in person, I'm curious why you don't like the enclosure.

manualmachinist · May 19, 2015

metalmaster10 said:
Our TL-1 is only a couple months old. No trouble. Haven't used it a lot, but it is very user friendly, just not fast. But, that is to be expected.
I got almost all the extras. Full enclosure, tailstock, turret, coolant. I'm not impressed with the chuck they charged $1300 for! I plan to yank it off and put on a 16C collet chuck with foot pedal.
By the time you add all the extras it gets pretty pricey... Could get a used "real" production machine for the money, but the TL is very convenient for onset-twosey things and for new folks to learn.
My .02

My employer bought a TL-3 new at the end of 2013 with the enclosure and turret.
I’m an old school all manual guy up until they bought this, I thought the hand wheels would make it more familiar. Now that I have become comfortable with it, I don’t use them. I sure wish that we could have gotten this years ago. :angry:

Way easier than handle crankin!

After I got most of the leaks stopped, the enclosure has been great. The turret has made it pretty dam accurate and repeatable. Although with it only being 8” across it has made getting tools to clear a challenge for a newbie to CNC.
Metal master is right about the chuck, don’t but it from Haas, get a Bison or other good quality chuck.
The BTC thing is a POS. It does OK with soft jaws, but the hard jaws, the counterbore bottoms are not even square, so the jaw bolts wear out under the head.

tc1999 · May 20, 2015

Matt@RFR said:
Having never seen old or new in person, I'm curious why you don't like the enclosure.

I don't have anything against "enclosures" in general, but it seemed to bother guys that had been used to the machines without. I don't have experience on the enclosed machines...they may not be all that bad. Just for me though the TL was so nice being totally open (other than the coolant showering)

metalmaster10 · May 20, 2015

athack said:
How do you like the turret?

The turret is pretty nice, but only 4 stations.
Depends on your task, a good aloris works well too... M01 in the program for tool change.
The nice thing about getting the turret is, you still get the base plate for a regular tool post. you could take the turret off if you wanted and use your flavor of tool post.
I personally like the chip enclosure. It is kind of pricey, but keeps most of the stuff inside.
along the lines of what manual said... the hand wheels are of little use to me. I have moved the machine with them, but never made a chip with them.

I'm now wondering if the TM is as handy as the TL, or is it just a slow, long X version of their VMC's...??

tc1999 · May 21, 2015

metalmaster10 said:
I'm now wondering if the TM is as handy as the TL, or is it just a slow, long X version of their VMC's...??

Short answer is no...IMO

astromach · May 28, 2015

Have a 2010 TL-1 with the TT-4 turret, tailstock, no enclosure. Great machine, and while not a "production machine" it handles short runs just fine. I wish I had gotten the enclosure when I ordered it. Since it cannot be field installed, I had to fashion my own and that has helped a lot containing coolant and chips.

I use the handwheels mostly for moving the carriage closer to the home position before powering up the machine (saves time) or for moving it away from a position where it could collide with the guards or tailstock when homing the machine. Also use the X axis handweel for the automatic chamfer feature and it does OK for that. Other than that, I could do without them.

I have been looking at the new version and it seems to address some of the limitations of the previous version; better enclosure, larger coolant pump and tank, more spindle power. Definetively an upgrade over the previous version. The casting is different from both the previous TL-1 and TL-2. As it was pointed out before, once the must have options have been added, it comes close to the price of a basic ST10, so the decision comes down to faster/more tools or larger envelope/easier to learn for new operators.

Dennis_in_VA · May 29, 2015

Umm, I was not implying that the TL was/is a "Production" machine.

By my use of the word "Production" , I was referring to a newly built machine, current "Production" model.

The new version that Haas is currently producing.

mkd · May 30, 2015

i requisitioned an open Tl-2 in 2008.
got sold the optional high volume coolant pump.
how they can sell a machine like this in good conscience is beyond me. need to build a coolant trough in the concrete under it.
dum$ a$$e$

i made some little tool blocks for drills and such so I was able to run production with more than 4 tools on the turret

Matt@RFR · May 30, 2015

mkd said:
dum$ a$$e$

Maybe they assumed you had run a lathe before and knew what a good coolant pump would do?

mkd · Jun 1, 2015

Matt@RFR said:
Maybe they assumed you had run a lathe before and knew what a good coolant pump would do?

Not even sure what that meant, friend.
perhaps if you understood what i was saying you would be agreeing, instead of making uselessly snarky comments.

lateralus · Jun 4, 2015

I dont know why haas calls the tl1 and tl2 toolroom lathes. I run a prototrak toolroom lathe everyday with electronic handwheels and cant imagine being without them. For repairs and one or two part runs Id waste so much time programming single face or turn cuts.

The mechincal wheels on the tl3 are just bad IMO. Who designed this lathe? I wanted a better option than prototrak and haas really let me down.

astromach · Jun 5, 2015

I can do with the TL1 anything I used to do with a manual lathe, faster and more accurately. Manual feed can be easily done with the electronic hand wheel in the pendant. And unless the operator is extremely accurate and well coordinated such that he can cut arcs and chamfers by turning both hand wheels simultaneously, I see no need for two hand wheels.

Simple machining tasks like facing, turning, etc. are also easily accomplished with the IPS without the need to write any code. I can hardly imagine a machine easier to use for making single parts and short runs.

As for the nearly useless mechanical hand wheels, they probably put them there to lure manual machinists who might be intimidated by machines without hand wheels, until they learn and realize they are not actually needed to operate the machine...

60 Hertz Jig · Jun 5, 2015

I agree that the Z handwheel is completely useless (and one of the first things I took off when I ran a TL2), but I really like having the X axis handwheel for one purpose : chamfering. In one of the 'manual' modes you can create chamfers by hand by setting the chamfer angle, jogging to a position, and turning the X wheel.

It was really nice to have for truing up a center, or slapping a chamfer on a part without programming it. I also liked it for undercutting a shoulder, I could zip an insert in and out of a corner and leave a pretty undercut before it had a chance to chatter.

Of course, having CAM or time to write a proper program works just as well, but for one-offs, I liked a lot of the TL features. If they made a TL machine that was more rigid and ballsy, I'd be all over it.

New production TL-1, who has one?

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