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Mid 90's LNC8 Cadet- Would this be a good first CNC lathe. (budget limited).

countryguy

Hot Rolled
Joined
Jul 29, 2014
Location
Mich, USA
My son and I have gone off the deep end into CNC. Mostly VMC and 4 & 5 axis, but he has 2 years to finish college and wants to do a start-up when done. We/he takes on small Milling and 3d Printing jobs to learn but lately, we have turned down enough Turn work to probably pay for 1/2 of the cost of a cnc lathe.
Parts: Brass and Alu. 6-8" in length per.... OD around 1"... a few holes and chamfers. I think 1 job had a hole tapped.

So... Price wise we are limited. There are several LNC8's near us. We use Fusion 360 and solid works for CAD/CAM. not even sure we could use that on this model, but assume it has been done.


Q is... would this be a good starter CNC lathe for a Dad and Son to dig into?? Easy parts, easy to repair is a factor too.
 
Okuma makes a good lathe. Parts are very expensive and only available from Okuma. That's probably the biggest drawback.
 
We still have a 94 Lnc8 big bore that we bought new, and other late 90 okuma crown cnc lathes.

The Lnc8 will do about everything the crown will do. I think a well maintained one would be a good choice to learn on.

Mechanically ours has held up very well, not requiring much except to fix problems from operator error. Can still reliably run production holding tolerances to .0005" when needed.

The drives, boards, etc are all getting pretty old, but there are companies repairing them.

The Lnc8 will probably have an osp5020 control. No floppy, but would use rs232 to load programs.. The memory can fill quickly if programs are very big. LAP cycle option for canned cycles will help control program size, and simplify programming.

Best of luck to you.



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THANK YOU for the reply. That helps a lot. One of them has the IFS conversational option. So... 232. we'll, it is what it is! If your machine has held up like that, I think I know my answer. I had an old AB Bandit controller once w/ 232... I put on a USB to RS232 converter to pump data to it.

Would you mind if we PM'd you w/ some Q's possibly about basic tooling we would need? I am going to get some measurements and meet the seller next week if we make this all happen?

If I go to check this- IT is under power; Do I take my indicators and mag-stands to check anything? Wondering how I check Z. for any backlash? (sorry... VMC knowlege... zero Lathe basic buying knowledge. I've seen the run-out type tests. Any quick basics to check?

For the 5020, There is an "L" after it. OSP5020L. Not sure if that means anything on the "L"?
 
THANK YOU for the reply. That helps a lot. One of them has the IFS conversational option. So... 232. we'll, it is what it is! If your machine has held up like that, I think I know my answer. I had an old AB Bandit controller once w/ 232... I put on a USB to RS232 converter to pump data to it.

Would you mind if we PM'd you w/ some Q's possibly about basic tooling we would need? I am going to get some measurements and meet the seller next week if we make this all happen?

If I go to check this- IT is under power; Do I take my indicators and mag-stands to check anything? Wondering how I check Z. for any backlash? (sorry... VMC knowlege... zero Lathe basic buying knowledge. I've seen the run-out type tests. Any quick basics to check?

For the 5020, There is an "L" after it. OSP5020L. Not sure if that means anything on the "L"?

L means Lathe. I have a 5020L Cadet that I love.

Not IFS. . . IGF conversational. That's worth a lot! What's the asking on this used machine? I got my Cadet for $7500. 12" chuck with IGF.

Id wind up the spindle and listen for any odd noise. Roll the spindle around by hand and feel for any odd spots. Sometimes you can detect problems. Your ears will tell you a lot as well.

I'd have some bar stock there to chuck up on and skim the od (even manually with the jog arrow). The front and back of the diameter you skim should be something like the same within .0006" over 8" of turn length. That tells you if the head stock is out of alignment.

You can indicate the underside of a turning tool by moving the turret in X to see if the turret inclination is off much. Indicate the side of the turret in Z to check alignment in that direction (check the station in the cut position - find one with no boring bar block in place and check that one)

Alignment isn't a big deal to fix if there are issues, but it takes time.

I'm not familiar with the LNC but if it's like my Cadet the X axis slide way should be rather wet with way lube after a short period. Behind the machine you can reach up under the sheet metal to feel the Z axis ways to make sure they're getting oil as well.

Look at the color of the hydraulic oil. I've seen machines where the oil was as black as night. Most aren't that bad though.

Okuma makes kick ass machines. Get it!
 








 
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