What's new
What's new

Need advise please

cah8861

Plastic
Joined
Sep 29, 2019
Hello guys, I've been lurking the site for awhile now. Love it. I am a maintenance machinist for a paper mill. We have 4 lathes and a J head Bridgeport 9x30 mill. The table ways on the mill are getting very loose from years of overloading the table and from someones decision to put on an optical system on 1/2 the table travel. I have finally convinced management to upgrade my mill to a heavier mill. We are going to keep the Bridgeport for lighter jobs . I looked at a CINCINNATI 430-18 VERCIPOWER HORIZONTAL MILL with a vertical head and an 18x80 table today. Its larger than I was originally looking for but the mill looks tight and the price is reasonable. What are your thoughts about this mill? We would probably use the vertical head 90% of the time.
 
High class equipment - but only if everything (feeds/rapids/speed changes) works perfectly. Its full of hydraulic systems that are getting old. These were new when I was going thru the apprenticeship over fifty years ago

It likely weighs at least 15,000 if that is a concern
 
Why not look at a prototrak CNC bed mill. They are extremely versatile and easy to use. Even in a maintenance environment, the ability to do hole patterns easily is awesome and they are rated for over 1000 pounds on the table.
 
If you intend using the vertical head 90% of the time I'd be looking for a vertical milling machine. Having said that the type of machine you're looking at is a top class milling machine.

Regards Tyrone.
 
Johnoder, Appreciate your input. It would still be the newest piece of equipment in our shop. LOL
 
Cmike,


Machine Serial No. 311041H76-0003
Machine Model No. 430-18 VerciPower. Its looking like this may really happen foe me. Sometimes I struggle to get tooling replaced. It would be like Christmas if we got this in our shop.
 
Tyrone Shoelaces, I agree with you but the way our company handles capitol requests is terrible. I submitted the request back in May and had a few mills close to us to look at. I was told no at the time but if there was any money left in the 4th quarter it would be revisited. Two weeks ago I was told it was a go and I had 2 weeks to find a mill or lose the opportunity. All the mills but this one were already sold and I wasn't about to lose the chance to upgrade our mill.
 
If you need tooling. Just sign up for the on line bidding at actions. Lots of companies going under.
 
There are several Vertical head vercipowers for sale on the market. I would get that one instead of the horizontal with vertical head Lot stronger for vertical use. When looking at vercipower, check hydraulic pressure. It needs to hold the secondary pressure for things to work correctly. Such as speed change, rapid and feed pressure to operates those
 
Johnoder, Appreciate your input. It would still be the newest piece of equipment in our shop. LOL

No foul. Most of us have Old Iron as predates our own selves.

But take John's point on the ancient hydraulics on-board. Most especially if a BirdPort, overloaded or no, was all you have had for years and it was enough.

Acquiring a complex mill "of a certain age" that might need more maintenance - or more to put right - than it delivers back to you doesn't sound like an assured improvement when the prime directive is making paper, making chips only in support-of.

Minimizing downtime in any process industry is usually seriously crucial, and worth a decent investment.

A NEW or at least near-new / low wear vertical, US-made Wells-Index, Basque, or Taiwanese mill one or two steps up from the old BirdPort might be the better choice?

That CNC bed mill also sounds useful, but it isn't clear what your work tends to be, other than that a BirdPort did it.
 








 
Back
Top