Is Cazeneuve still making manual lathes?

As I was driving around the "south of Market" area in SF today I passed a building with a large "Cazeneuve lathes" sign painted on it. The building looked pretty well shut up, and I was wondering if the lathes were still being made, or if that is just another remnant of a bygone era.

I just looked in the Yellow Pages and there is a listing under "machine tools" for Cazeneuve, so I guess the shop may still be a going concern.

cheers,
Michael

www.cazeneuve.com/Cazeneuvegb/cazeneuve/cazeneuve/ToursConventionnels.htm

No distribution "dot" on the West Coast however...perhaps your guy had his dot taken away...

For anyone interested : french Cazeneuve site.(ancient)
It also shows the bigger HB series (550 , 575 , 725)

Michael,

Cazeneuve building was sold last year to a photo rental agency or something. Used to be a real serious machine shop that doubled as dealership. Family business. Old man passed away and the wife ran it for at least a decade. She was not a machinist, however, but she did sell a few and brokered deals on used ones. She almost got involved with my HB500, which came out of the basement of a retiree in NJ. The wife passed away two years ago and the kids went a little berserk with the estate. The Cazeneuve building was sold under the table by one of them. I had made inquiries about the building last year, but I had no way to get in on the dealings other than simply having a nice lathe. I think there are three brothers and they each have some of dad’s old machines and there is a host of parts and odds and ends from the old dealership split between them in various barns or warehouses around northern CA. They answer the phone sometimes; depending on which listing you call.

That’s pretty much it, although there is a crazy Frenchman who runs around the country and claims to have been their service tech. He doubles as a semi

...a semi pro ballroom dancer

Thanks for the info.

cheers,
Michael

I wonder where that "dot" in the Southeastern USA is supposed to be. Logical place would be Atlanta, but it looks too far west for Atlanta...

I actually have a quote from John Parks of Cazeneuve Service Co of San Francisco Ca this was at the end of 2002. He also mentioned Rick Berner of Berner Scientific in Michigan as a good source of information and that he may have a older machine for sale. A real nice guy as I remember...

There is a reference to a New Jersey office but no real contact information. I have no idea what that "dot" represents on the page Don posted the link too.

Charles

Maybe the dot is just a stray glob of red ink...

Strange place for a "dot" in Australia. A more remote place than Alice Springs would be hard to find for a machine tool distributer!!

Funny Peter, I hadn't thought of that...an "Outback" Cazeneuve distributor...guess ya need the best for turning "croc" trap parts...

Looks like there are a few distributorship openings in South America and China...

John Parks is the Cazeneuve factory rep in the US and is located in the San Francisco area. He told me the 360 HBX is still made and costs around $50K. I have an older 360 HBX that I have been planning to get going one of these days and John has been very helpful with advice and information. The factory in France put him in touch with him and he can be reached at 415-647-4253.

John advises me that the older lathe drive systems were not very good and have been redesigned. The complicated hydraulically controlled speed selection (variable sheaves) has been re-engineered. Unfortunately although my machine has the "newer" upper drive pulley (with parts still available), my lower drive is no longer supported. Replacing the lower drive, including the motor, would be upwards of $7K, so I hope I can get it going with new seals and o-rings locally., I'll try to get it running this coming winter. If all else fails, maybe I can just use a VFD to control spindle speed and fix the pullet sheaves in one position. The rest of the hydraulic lube system and coolant pump might suffer at low rpm's, but we will have to see. Thankfully I have the manual and parts lists to go by.

Anyone else rebuild the older drives?

Dear Bob
I am the service man of the rep. in Israel
I rebuild alot of HBX 360
could you write what is the problem and I will try to help you most of the HBX machine here is
for about 20 year to 35 year
the most problem is leak of oil
you need to replace with original seals
the franch people make them slightly differnt
from the original
you can send me email or post your question here
[email protected]

Hi Bob,
I have 2 hbx-360s and also a parts machine with an older drive still attached to the motor. let me know if you are interested. cell any time 248-342-1518 rick