Integrex 30 or sqt lathe

I have been looking at sqt 18m and 18ms lathes. However an integrex 30 with c and y axis came abalone today I can get for a few thousand less. It has tailstock, y, c, and I think he said b axis with t plus.

What is b axis?

Is the integrex a good lathe and should I look for anything in particular? It is much more lathe than I need but if I ever needed the other options I would have them I'm thinking

Only problem I think I will have to upgrade my electrical system I think.

Is it a mid-late 90's machine? The head swivels from 0 to 90 deg( i think early ones only had 2 positions)

Mazak Integrex-3 - YouTube you can see it at 2:30 in this video

Thank you this one is 1998

We have one of the first Integrex 30's that were shipped to the U.S. It is still making us money every day. It is a beast. 35 H.P. main spindle, big bore 10" chuck, programmable steady rest, and a very rigid ,fully programmable tailstock. 30 tool magazine. The turret will position horizontally or vertically, nothing in between. Pretty much bullet proof machine and control. Decent Y travel.
Buy it.

Again, it depends on what sort of parts you're going to make.

Parts that needs a little bit of work, with lots of tool changes are going to be done MUCH faster on a SQT than an Integrex. Those things have painfully slow chip-to-chip times.

I only do low production and one offs.

My main product is gunsmithing. I know it's allot of machine for that possible it is to much. But I do allot of smallife items that take milling on a mill with rotary table. Which I do not have a mill with a full 4 the axis. I have a manual roat table which I use on my Milltronics VMC.

I also make car parts for friends and myself. I would like to expand to prototype work and short runs for other customers as a retirement job.

Low volume, complex parts that would take multiple setups would push me towards the Integrex...

I think it might be a bit more flexible as well for prototyping and short runs.

I personally wouldn't go for an Integrex for a first machine. The setup time on it would kill me.

ManualEd said:

Again, it depends on what sort of parts you're going to make.

Parts that needs a little bit of work, with lots of tool changes are going to be done MUCH faster on a SQT than an Integrex. Those things have painfully slow chip-to-chip times.

Click to expand...

I was going to say just that.

Capability wise the integrex smashed the sqt (especially if it doesn't have a y axis) but production wise the sqt wins. That is unless you have other work you can be doing while the grex finishes parts that you would otherwise be setting up in a couple of extra setups.

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OK I have more on the 2 machines I have narrowed it down to. Some of the machines I have looked at were junk. I have not had a chance to see the integrex in person yet, will be going esky this week.

Sqt15ms 1992 c axis 1 owner t32-3 conttol, don't think it has eia option enabled still looking into this, does not have y axis. Lots of tooling, bar feeder, spindle liner, parts catcher, full set of collet and collet chuck on main spindle 3 jaw brown and sharp on subspindle. Will cost $28k

Integrex 30y 1998 very good condition t plus control, kitagaws chuck, has eia and expanded memory, tons of live and regular tooling, about 50 tools total. tailstock, y axis does not have b axis, or subspindle. I can get this machine for $25k they need it out of the shop for a new machine next week plus they own a trucks and will ship it for fuel cost.

The integrex is huge. I am a one man operation and will do more than I need at the moment but the y axis would be nice on some items. In addition to having longer z axis. It would open up more possibilities in the future and it is cheaper.

The sqt will do everything I need I don't really need the subspindle but it may come in handy like the y axis on the integrex, the eia or g code has me concerned though. I currently use Inventor with HSM CAM for all of my work. I need to see if I can find a post for Mazatrol t32-3 that will work.

I mainly do gunsmithing true receivers, cutting chambers, tenons, muzzles, I started out looking fir the c axis since my mill dies not have a 4th axis to simply engrave the barrel with the caliber and my name. Then I thought about other work I could do possibly like truing receivers drilling scope base holes and turning solid match bullets.

I know I can do all of this on a manual lathe but I think the cnc would speed it up, reduce chance of errors, and improve accuracy. I will keep my manual lathe for now. But I think once I learn to run either machine things will go faster on it and I will be able to do additional general machine work. There is not a machine shop anywhere near me that has cnc. And only a few with manual machines.

I like the simplicity of the sqt but the integrex opens up a whole lot more capability I think. Whichever I choose I will probably look for a Swiss style machine for making bullets in the future as several people told me I couldn't really do them very well on either of these machines.

What is the spindle bore on the sqt 18? The Integrex should have a BB-10 Kitagawa. That will allow you to swallow a 3 inch diameter workpiece.
You could make bullets on either Mazak, but it would be painfully slow, especially on the Integrex with its slow tool change.

The sqt is about 2.5 inches. Plenty large enough.

From what I have seen the bullets can be done in one step (one tool). At most I could use 1 tool change I think. I think a Swiss machine is the way to go on those though.

cgmaster said:

I started out looking fir the c axis since my mill dies not have a 4th axis to simply engrave the barrel with the caliber and my name.

Click to expand...

The SQT wont be able to engrave the barrel unless it's on a round section due to the lack of Y

xa-mont said:

The SQT wont be able to engrave the barrel unless it's on a round section due to the lack of Y

Click to expand...

I am engraving on the barrel. Which I think should work on c since it is round. As it should just rotate the part in the spindle . I am not trying to engrave on flats. However I could see y being an advantage on an octagon shaped barrel or other flats. However I have a cnc mill which this work can be set up in.