Jim Shaper
Stainless
- Joined
- Nov 5, 2007
- Location
- Minneapolis
I know there's a couple more of you out there than Forrest (my wife hates you btw - cause I stay up too late reading your threads and not coming to bed now that searching works), so I thought I'd put this up to see who else has input and what not.
Forrest, you seem to think your lathe is not really all that heavy duty. I have some questions as to why you say that:
My DA210 (1500mm between centers, made in 1974) is among the sturdiest tool room lathes I have seen with such a small footprint for the bed size. @2900lbs according to the manual, I'm thinking I'm justified in that opinion. The ribbing in the bed is mammoth. Maybe your's is lighter? Maybe you just think of bigger machines when comparing it?
As for over-driving it: I know you run a vfd into a ten hp motor. I actually have the 7.5hp factory upgraded motor (and D6 spindle), but I wonder about the 2000rpm option? I have some aluminum projects that would be nice to spin up a bit faster. Any ideas?
I'm also interested in how many of these machines are out there?
Mine came from the tool room of a plastics manufacturer who bought it new. One of the set screws on the spindle was backing itself out (back gear) and left some shavings in the head stock. I imagine they freaked and sold it thinking the bearings were shot, but I saw the screw head and how it was getting chewed by the gear below it and realized what all the mess was. There was no oil in it when I purchased it and it wasn't under power, but I had a 2 week satisfaction guarantee from the seller (a dealer down the street from the owner), so I figured I could check it out with little risk at home. So I replaced the ill fated screw and filled it up with lube and it works great. You can barely feel the wear on the ways. The only indication of any wear is on the inside edge of the front triangle rib. Not enough to catch a nail on, but it's not perfectly smooth like the rest of the ways.
Since I haven't had it all that long, and only had it under power with an undersized idler on the phase converter, I don't really have much to say about my experience with the machine, but I'm sure there are others out there with wisdom and insights which could benefit us all. So I'd love to hear them.
Forrest, you seem to think your lathe is not really all that heavy duty. I have some questions as to why you say that:
My DA210 (1500mm between centers, made in 1974) is among the sturdiest tool room lathes I have seen with such a small footprint for the bed size. @2900lbs according to the manual, I'm thinking I'm justified in that opinion. The ribbing in the bed is mammoth. Maybe your's is lighter? Maybe you just think of bigger machines when comparing it?
As for over-driving it: I know you run a vfd into a ten hp motor. I actually have the 7.5hp factory upgraded motor (and D6 spindle), but I wonder about the 2000rpm option? I have some aluminum projects that would be nice to spin up a bit faster. Any ideas?
I'm also interested in how many of these machines are out there?
Mine came from the tool room of a plastics manufacturer who bought it new. One of the set screws on the spindle was backing itself out (back gear) and left some shavings in the head stock. I imagine they freaked and sold it thinking the bearings were shot, but I saw the screw head and how it was getting chewed by the gear below it and realized what all the mess was. There was no oil in it when I purchased it and it wasn't under power, but I had a 2 week satisfaction guarantee from the seller (a dealer down the street from the owner), so I figured I could check it out with little risk at home. So I replaced the ill fated screw and filled it up with lube and it works great. You can barely feel the wear on the ways. The only indication of any wear is on the inside edge of the front triangle rib. Not enough to catch a nail on, but it's not perfectly smooth like the rest of the ways.
Since I haven't had it all that long, and only had it under power with an undersized idler on the phase converter, I don't really have much to say about my experience with the machine, but I'm sure there are others out there with wisdom and insights which could benefit us all. So I'd love to hear them.