We have a cranky old-school machinist here at our shop whom I usually try to do anything I can for to keep him happy. When we first hired him 12 years ago, I bought, at his insistence, a number of used Hardinges before we found one he liked, a model TFB-H. The collet closer on it worked fine he asked me to get the lathe tuned, last year. The closer was damaged by the machinery repair service we'd hired, and they haven't been able to fix it.
So I went and bought a generic collet closer from JFK Precision in LA to replace it. But my machinist hates it--it keeps releasing the parts and causing them to fail.
So now I'm trying to either:
- get the original Hardinge closer repaired,
- buy a well-made replacement one, or
- find some place that sells Hardinge-style closers.
Any ideas?
So I went and bought a generic collet closer from JFK Precision in LA to replace it. But my machinist hates it--it keeps releasing the parts and causing them to fail.
So now I'm trying to either:
- get the original Hardinge closer repaired,
- buy a well-made replacement one, or
- find some place that sells Hardinge-style closers.
Any ideas?