Doosan 2022 Lynx 2100LB lathe for my garage... should I get a chip conveyor?

[xnewmanx]

I've got a VF2SSYT in my shop and I'm looking to add a lathe. Was planning to get a Doosan Lynx 2100LB. A chip conveyor will take up a decent portion of floor space in the shop (I'm about 2100sf).

For reference, I've had my VF2 in there for about 8 months now and have run about ten 35 gallon cans of chips thru it. I don't do high production. Mostly one off and low run stuff.

The salesman said that using a t-rake to remove chips isn't hard. I also plan on cutting a bunch of acrylic, so he said a lot of people don't use chip conveyors for plastic. I keep my shop very clean and my machines equally as clean, so if raking the chips out makes a huge mess, then I don't want to do that. Also if raking the chips out never really "cleans" out the machine then I probably don't want to do that either.

Anyone have any real life experience raking out one of these lynx machines?

The chip conveyor is nearly 10% of the machine cost, so I suppose a secondary question might be: are there cheaper chip conveyors out there?

Thanks!

 

[lastrada]

I've got that lathe and no conveyor. It fills up quick and is kind of a pain to clean out. Luckily I don't use the lathe as near as much as my mill. I would guess it all depends on how much you're turning, if you're moving a lot of material, I would bite the bullet and get one, you'll be thankful later. Nice shop BTW

 

[ViktorS]

Our VMC does not have chip conveyor.
Our lathe does.

For some reason the lathe seem to produce a lot more chips, and sometimes stringy ones at that.
We do all "smaller" milling jobs in the lathe too.

I do prototype work and the machines only get occational use one or twice a week. But still the lathe seem to be constantly full when turning off the conveyor because I'm too lazy to empty the bin in a snowstorm.

My short answer: Don't get a conveyor, because once you have it you will wish you had one on the mill too.

Jokes aside though, a conveyor takes up a lot of space and sometimes it could get quite messy around it. If you're happy raking out chips then thats what I would do in your setting. But I hate that shit and considering my larger parts I'd rather have the conveyor.

 

[CPM2014]

+1 on getting the conveyor. I have a lathe in my garage as well, and as little as I use it , I don’t want to spend my time contorted into the thing cleaning chips out. If you’ve got the scratch, than get it. I can’t say I’ve ever regretted buying something that makes my life easier.

 

[AJ H]

I don't have the machine in question but do have lathes w/o a conveyor and it's pretty hard to clean chips out without getting shit all over the floor.

Beautiful shop.

How much is that Doosan if you don't mind me asking?

 

[xnewmanx]

I don't have the machine in question but do have lathes w/o a conveyor and it's pretty hard to clean chips out without getting shit all over the floor.

Beautiful shop.

How much is that Doosan if you don't mind me asking?

Thanks. The machine is around 70. Comparable to Haas ST15 price with matching options and a bit longer work envelope.

Thoughts on one of those air powered chipvacs for cleaning out the machine?

Like this for 800 dollars:

Promotional Chip Vac™ System

 

[Ianagos]

Man I’m trying to fit bigger machines in 1200sqft I think you’ll be fine if you get the chip conveyer. I think they are very helpful on lathes. Tend to get lots of stringy chips and vacuums do not work at all.

 

[xnewmanx]

Understood. It's not just a machine shop, though. I also do a lot of other work in there so I can't be too cramped. I was thinking a vacuum could be used for floor cleanup after scooping and final machine cleanup to get what scooping didn't.

 

[SND]

I don't have a conveyor on mine, took up too much space and in the end I don't really need it for the amount of chips I make anyway.
I also kinda like to let them sit in there at the end up the day to drain out and clean it out the next morning.

 

[RoundHouse M&F]

our mazak QT30 at work is 14-1/2 feet long 4-1/2 feet being the conveyor out the end, our SQT18 conveyor sticks out less than that.

I would say yes on the conveyor for a few reasons.

1. yes it makes life way easier and we have machined delrin and uhmw and i would just stick a trashcan with a bag under it to catch chips. if the conveyor is slow enough or if you just advance in increments coolant loss is minimal. and if you don't want a bulky self dumping hopper your trash can idea for the mill will still work. or cut a 55gal steel drum and get a drum dolly to roll it around (that's how we have our trashcans set up). As a couple others have said, iv noticed a lathe will fill faster than a mill.

2. and this is just me. but if for some unforeseen reason you have to sell it during a hard time etc. or if you upgrade to say a different size or live tool. It will be easier to sell one with the conveyor than one without.

 

[Ianagos]

I have a small lathe and I don’t use it much but the chips tend to pile up quick. Just because I tend to turn a lot of stainless and since I’m not pushing production and I have a small lathe it tends to be stringy. Very little metal turns into a big ball of sharp curls.

Now I also don’t like the chips to pile up enough to get to the waycovers.

Maybe in a more open lathe it wouldn’t be as much of a problem.

 

[Ianagos]

Another quick suggestion why not put the machines opposite of what you have pictured and have the chip conveyers going to the center with little room between them? Could also probably stagger them if you wanted to get it even tighter. They both share one bin

 

[xnewmanx]

Another quick suggestion why not put the machines opposite of what you have pictured and have the chip conveyers going to the center with little room between them? Could also probably stagger them if you wanted to get it even tighter. They both share one bin

That's actually a very interesting idea. Let me think about that...

 

[xnewmanx]

Another quick suggestion why not put the machines opposite of what you have pictured and have the chip conveyers going to the center with little room between them? Could also probably stagger them if you wanted to get it even tighter. They both share one bin

I do like this setup. I could also avoid moving my wood workbench, have better access to load my TRT160 into the mill and if I ever get a bar feeder, I can put it in the driveway

EDIT:
or this

 

[DouglasJRizzo]

Nice shop!
If you can afford it, get the conveyor. It's my opinion that lathes make loads of chips and the conveyor is a very efficient way to get rid of them.

 

[Mr.M]

I would get the conveyor. In our shop we have a few VMC's that do not have them and it stinks compared to the rest of mills and lathes with them.

 

[xnewmanx]

Thanks everyone. I think there have been enough people singing the praises of the conveyor that I should go that route. I got them to knock a few bucks off it too!

Looks like May delivery. I've never used a CNC lathe before so wish me luck... but I didn't even know how to put a tool in the mill when it showed up last summer and I already paid it off, so I think I can make the lathe work!

 

[DouglasJRizzo]

Thanks everyone. I think there have been enough people singing the praises of the conveyor that I should go that route. I got them to knock a few bucks off it too!

Looks like May delivery. I've never used a CNC lathe before so wish me luck... but I didn't even know how to put a tool in the mill when it showed up last summer and I already paid it off, so I think I can make the lathe work!

I used to do training and applications for Doosan, let me know if you'd like the classroom manuals, no charge.

 

[SND]

You can always add a conveyor later on if you do find you need one. It doesn't ship with the machine anyway.
When I do a lot of roughing I can put 150-200lbs of chips in the machine in the morning, let it drain over lunch, then scoop out in a few minutes while it restarts. When I run stuff with stringy chips I take them out a lot more often though, don't want that wrapping around anything.

 

[Fancuku]

Get a conveyor. Shoveling chips out of a CNC lathe is time consuming and a nightmare. It makes your life much easier.