considering a 1988 Conquest 42 2 axis lathe

Houndogforever · Mar 15, 2021

Running on the floor today at current owner.

Is this a giant cluster that I am considering purchasing, or would this be a fair lathe for 2 axis turning?

$6000

What do I need to know about this or be afraid of on this old Hardinge?
Thanks

cameraman · Mar 15, 2021

Houndogforever said:
Running on the floor today at current owner.

Is this a giant cluster that I am considering purchasing, or would this be a fair lathe for 2 axis turning?

$6000

What do I need to know about this or be afraid of on this old Hardinge?
Thanks

Hi dawg,

Do you have a link to the machine ?

Hardinge Superslant Troubleshooting

^^^ Me an' @Hardplates and most notably Vancbiker had a pretty good "Stab" at trying to revive his machine...

I'd make sure the machine really really really works before purchase.

Not 100% sure about the 1988 Conquest 42, slightly later some pretty wacky things happened to their control architectures as you'll see in the above cited thread.

Seemed to be key problem of a "Mixed" architecture [for older machines that need to be fixed] i.e. a FANUC "Intent" with Siemens drives...

Good iron - bonkers electronics [things have changed for the better since that period.].

We joked that the people who know how to fix / unscramble this architecture are in retirement + reference to a infamous tap-room the design team had access too + kidnapping Hardinge retired engineers + escorts and coke to fix Hardplates machine.

I believe the Conquest 42 may be different in capability from a card carrying T series machine ; others here would know better.

If you can find something that's FANUC throughout your chances of fixing an older machine when it goes wrong go up pretty dramatically.

Hardplates · Mar 15, 2021

I think it being General Numeric is what denotes a Fanuc control with Siemens drives and motors.

I would buy a machine with just about any control so long as the entire thing is one brand. Too many implementation issues caused by combining brands IMO.

I believe I was very close to having it going and if I knew then what I know today, less than one day and it likely would have been running, aside from a bad transformer inside the spindle drive. It just wasn't worth it. But I don't regret it one bit as I learned a great deal from it. But I paid less than half of what it is worth in scrap today

I also wasn't overly impressed with Hardinge as far as support goes. Granted it was an old machine but they took weeks to get back to me and by time they did I had already sourced the documentation I was inquiring about.

A year or so later I called them about a used Hardinge VMC I was looking at and it was "too old to have the serial number and build sheet on file" It was an early 2000s machine. The SB-3 was a 1985 and they had that build sheet.

Some guys like Hardinge, I kind of cringe when I see one and would have to get a super deal to have one sitting in my shop.

GENERALDISARRAY · Mar 15, 2021

a Superslant is different from a Conquest. I didnt read the linked post, so I dont know anything about it.

Conquest is all Fanuc electronics.

I really like mine.

The turret index gearbox and curvic coupling are the only issues I know of on a Conquest. The index repeatability should be tested before you buy. The curvic is no longer available from Hardinge.

Vancbiker · Mar 15, 2021

cameraman said:
Hi dawg,

Do you have a link to the machine ?

Hardinge Superslant Troubleshooting

^^^ Me an' @Hardplates and most notably Vancbiker had a pretty good "Stab" at trying to revive his machine...
........

Had to go back and re-read that thread. Yep there was a lot of effort put into trying to figure out that bastardized setup. Why Hardinge made some of the choices of mixing brands of controls and drives is beyond understanding.

If the machine the OP is considering is a similar mixed bag, I'd run. I'd also look at the turret drive and locking mechanisms. On the older machines like Hardplates had, they were a really shitty design using an air motor to rotate and some kind of shot pin to lock into position. Hopefully by the late 80s they had seen the light and switched to hydraulic or electric drive and curvic/Hirth coupling for locking in position.

cameraman · Mar 15, 2021

Hardplates said:
I think it being General Numeric is what denotes a Fanuc control with Siemens drives and motors.

I would buy a machine with just about any control so long as the entire thing is one brand. Too many implementation issues caused by combining brands IMO.

I believe I was very close to having it going and if I knew then what I know today, less than one day and it likely would have been running, aside from a bad transformer inside the spindle drive. It just wasn't worth it. But I don't regret it one bit as I learned a great deal from it. But I paid less than half of what it is worth in scrap today

I also wasn't overly impressed with Hardinge as far as support goes. Granted it was an old machine but they took weeks to get back to me and by time they did I had already sourced the documentation I was inquiring about.

A year or so later I called them about a used Hardinge VMC I was looking at and it was "too old to have the serial number and build sheet on file" It was an early 2000s machine. The SB-3 was a 1985 and they had that build sheet.

Some guys like Hardinge, I kind of cringe when I see one and would have to get a super deal to have one sitting in my shop.

I gotta admit hats off to you for taking a chance on that, but truly a temporal vortex that one may never come back from ...

Bizarrely complex machine.

GENERALDISARRAY · Mar 15, 2021

They did it for . . reasons
on the "SB" machines

1 the TT control did not yet exist when that machine was designed.Thats why the twin 6 control setup

2 they sold the machine with a choice of control. either Allen Bradley or Fanuc, going out on a limb and guessing the Siemens drives were also used on the AB machines. The only AB machines I have seen were non running.

3 the turret drive is derivative of the CHNC turret. It is actually a good system.It uses an air motor to rotate and a cushioned pawl to stop. but there is a curvic just like normal.
I have a puma15 here that works the same way but with hydraulics.

The Conquest "CS" is a different machine
LM guides, polymer base, servo turret. They are very similar to the more modern "T"

GENERALDISARRAY · Mar 15, 2021

this shop is still running a 3 and 4 axis machine. The 3 had its axis drives retrofitted to ac brushless about 8 years ago.

Hardplates · Mar 15, 2021

GENERALDISARRAY said:
They did it for . . reasons
on the "SB" machines

1 the TT control did not yet exist when that machine was designed.Thats why the twin 6 control setup

2 they sold the machine with a choice of control. either Allen Bradley or Fanuc, going out on a limb and guessing the Siemens drives were also used on the AB machines. The only AB machines I have seen were non running.

3 the turret drive is derivative of the CHNC turret. It is actually a good system.It uses an air motor to rotate and a cushioned pawl to stop. but there is a curvic just like normal.
I have a puma15 here that works the same way but with hydraulics.

The Conquest "CS" is a different machine
LM guides, polymer base, servo turret. They are very similar to the more modern "T"

Why not use Fanuc drives and yellow caps?

I was under the impression the only thing worse than the turret on the Super Slants was the control implementation.

Granted I never had it running, but everyone I spoke with that knew about them said the turret was total shit and if it works likely the most valuable part of my scrap collection.

Like I said I am just going by what I was told privately by some individuals that I respect.

I never bothered to pull it out and try selling it. I still have the machine though I have stripped the control and sold many of the boards.

The Hardinge payed for itself when a hydraulic solenoid went out on my TC-2 and I was able to use one from the Hardinge to replace it

Houndogforever · Mar 15, 2021

CNC Lathe For Sale - heavy equipment - by owner - sale

Well hell, I went ahead and said yes. What can go wrong?

It is up and running daily on their floor. He was pulling tools and doing a set up but it indexes fast and quiet, spins up to RPM and no funny belt sounds or clicks and whirs.

He needs to keep it going till his new lathe shows up so unless they go super stupid in 2 weeks and crash it, it looks like a decent machine.
6" 3jaw is less than 2 years old.

wmpy · Mar 15, 2021

That's a nice looking machine.

A Conquest 42 was the very first CNC machine that we bought new back in the late '80s. We still have that machine and run it every day. It hasn't been without issues, but we've been able to work through all the problems mostly on our own. The biggest problem was the gearbox for the turret going bad. I think it got coolant in it and destroyed itself. But, it's a gearbox and can be rebuilt- not the end of the world. We have since added another slightly newer Conquest 42 and a few other newer model Hardinge lathes. We're happy with all of them. I'll agree that service/support isn't so great anymore. It used to be fantastic when it went through a local dealer with a bunch of knowledgeable techs, but that's not how they operate anymore. If you have any questions about the machine, feel free to ask here or PM me. I'd be happy to help.

Houndogforever · Mar 16, 2021

Thanks. It's not a huge pile of money, but I only buy out about $12k a year in turning work so it should work out.

If not, I will sell it for scrap iron. Oh, wait, DOH! Harcrete.

krusemissile · Mar 16, 2021

the current owner and previous owner of this lathe have been doing overflow work for us for years. You should be fine with purchase. I don't recall any major issues except for normal wear and tear of something of this age. Good Luck with purchase.

Jashley73 · Mar 17, 2021

Houndogforever said:
If not, I will sell it for scrap iron. Oh, wait, DOH! Harcrete.

OK, that brings up an intersting question, that I've never thought about until now. How do you scrap a polymer machine base, such as that...?

Ox · Mar 18, 2021

Landfill

It's a liability, not an asset.

--------------------

Think Snow Eh!
Ox

Houndogforever · Mar 18, 2021

Ox said:
Landfill

It's a liability, not an asset.

--------------------

Think Snow Eh!
Ox

no no no, you just wait until the next guy shows up ready to build his own lathe that will hold microns and be under $10,000 and convince him to buy the then dead machine to use as his base.
bang, almost an asset now.

GENERALDISARRAY · Mar 19, 2021

Houndogforever said:
no no no, you just wait until the next guy shows up ready to build his own lathe that will hold microns and be under $10,000 and convince him to buy the then dead machine to use as his base.
bang, almost an asset now.

I know where there is a T51 sitting, with weeds growing up through it. Send him my way.

Ox · Mar 19, 2021

What happened to THAT?

----------------

Think Snow Eh!
Ox

GENERALDISARRAY · Mar 19, 2021

Ox said:
What happened to THAT?

----------------

Think Snow Eh!
Ox

Excessed then gutted by my friendly neighborhood nu-clear bomb factory.My friend has had the scrap contract there, on and off for some time.

Your tax dollars at work.

considering a 1988 Conquest 42 2 axis lathe

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