First CNC lathe--Omni turn 75

I am thinking about purchasing a Omniturn 75 CNC lathe with a bar feed, I will be mostly running mild steel parts under 5/8 inch diameter and 1 to 2 inches long. Quanties are in the range of 5000 pcs per part.

Some have external threads and some have internal threads but all are relatively simple parts.

I have a Traub A25 that I run at times, so I have some experience.

Since this is my first time into CNC I need some help on the basic questions I should ask the dealer. Also, I would like to hear from anyone who has experience on this machine.

How is Omniturns service after sales?
Can I run soluble oil instead of cutting oil?
Thanks
Lost

Why Omni-turn ? is it because you're tight on space? if you have the space there are heavier/better high production machines for relatively the same amount of $.

In machines of that size, I'd rather have a machine by Cubic. http://www.cubicmachinery.com/ they look nice

"Why Omni-turn ? is it because you're tight on space? if you have the space there are heavier/better high production machines for relatively the same amount of $."

SND, can you state which machines you have in mind?

Thanks,

Paul T.

Yang has the SL-12 that if I remember right is in the low 40's. There was a practically new one on ebay not long ago for 30 something. Which puts it close to the Omni-turn at over 37K. You can also even look at Haas. I would bet their GT-10 and GT-20 would be better, and they are at a lower price. There's a few other brands of bigger production gang-tooled machines that escape me now.

I was looking at the Omni-turn myself because I am very limited on space. I was also looking at CMS/SNK, and cubic(bigger, but very nice). In the end I decided to wait until I have more space.

SND--Space is a bit of a problem but I prefer to buy American when I can. Omni turn is made in the USA.

I am still looking at Haas.

Lost

IF the price is right, it's probably an ok machine.
Be aware that the control uses 1980's computing (XT computer running DOS). Software stored on Floppy drive is standard. The programming is a bit weird compared to Fanuc, etc. Minimal canned cycles, crappy graphics, etc.
For sure they are not worth what they cost new.

Oh boy, anything but the GT10/20.
Can someone please let me know the purpose of those two models?
For small turning like the Omni, the Office lathe is quite comparable albeit that retarded name gets me every time.
I think there is also a machine similar size as the Omni, I believe it's SNK or something similar. I'm sure they will be at Eastec again, I can let you know.
If you want to go the Yang route, Viper has a slightly larger gang machine standard with a 4' barfeeder for slightly over $40K.
Daewoo has a version of their 220 set up as a gangmachine, nice thing is the 17" X travel.


I'm sure others have their opinions on Gangtool lathes, but one thing to consider is the amount of standard tools you can utilize on one job. Unlike a swiss machine with multiple slides, Gangs can get very cramped, specially when working extremely near the chuck/collet nose. The more travel you have the easier your setups will be.
This by far was the most important decision when I got my Haas MiniLathe. The slide is arranged in a 45 degree table, so it's absolutely painless to have 4 standard 1" or 1/2" stick tools and 4 ID tools ( drills or boring bars ) working on the same part. Can be a real bitcch on the Omni style and travel machines.
Advise: Look at the parts you're planning to make, figure out how you want to do them, figure out the tooling you want to use and then go to look at the machine and see what it takes to set it up as planned.
Unlike standard lathes where the turret move the tools outta the way, here you'll find that drilling your part and machining the colletnose at the same time is very easy to do.

I think the omniturn GT-75 would be a great CNC starter machine for anyone doing simple barwork. My early 90's omniturn attachment on a hardinge and is still running strong on all original parts. The previous owner used coolant, and it was a simple matter of cleaning it up and now I use cutting oil. The coolant did not harm the linear guides and ball screws, but hardinge recommends against using coolant.

The angle of the bed of the GT-75 allows for the chips to fall straight down into the chip bin, which should improve chip management over any other gang lathe that uses a flat mounted bed. I was skeptical about the old 486DX processor, but in reality, the older processors are much more stable running DOS and generate less heat than the newer Pent-4 processors where the heat sink and fan is 10 times bigger than the processor. The new omni's uses the older pentium processors. You can get a refurbised GT-75 up to current specs for 27k from the factory

http://cgi.ebay.com/OmniTurn-GT-75-CNC-Turning-Center-Lathe_W0QQitemZ290114263126QQihZ019QQcategoryZ97230QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

The one thing I didn't like about the omniturn is the joystick, I'd much more prefer the pulse generator knob on Fanuc machines.

About service, in the LA area, there is a coyboy out of bakersfied by the name of Mark Weiber who is the omniturn guy. In the rare event that something should happen to the machine, you can call him, he is very responsive and helpful. Or, you can fix it yourself. There is nothing in this machine that you can't fix yourself, which is the beauty of this machine.

Max

Max and all--Thanks for the info. I need all the help I can get.
I will be looking at a machine tomorrow.

Lost

Hello Lost in LA! If your parts are like you say...under 5/8 dia and 1-2 o.a.l. no problem!
Seymour Dumore is right...you can never have enough x travel. Those Omni-turns are nice and you can fix/get parts very easy. Yang is no more :'( ...they made a well built machine (gang slide).........Dean
www.neufellmachining.com

Dean, didn't Yang Iron works only change to Yida ?
They still show a lot of the same machines, but different color. Like the SL-12, it seems similar to the yang eagles you have.

www.yidacnc.com

Hi SND....I did not know that Yida took over.
In the picture the control is on the opposite side and the base casting looks very different. They do not show a pic of the gang slide.....Dean

I similar machine would be the Hardinge GT27 that is a 27mm gang tooled machine.

Think Snow Eh!
Ox


GT and GT27's listed on this page.

I see one listing showing the GT27 with 1.625 bar capacity?

i have a miyano BNC-34 with a bar feeder. i think you should let me run the job for you that way you don't have to purchase anything

If I were you I would run in the opposite direction. We have had this machine for a little over 2 years now and just started running consistantly in December!
I have had motion control and spindle issues and replaced the same 2 circuit boards 3 times. When this machine was under warranty and the carriage took off and slammed into the spindle they would not send a service guy out. They had the salesman come out and talk with the tech on the phone and walk him through the repair. I was told when I bought the machine that if there were any issues at all they would send somebody right out. That didn't happen.
I know this might just be considered a lemon.
Oh yeah did I mention that when we received the machine and signed for it, set it in the door and started unwrapping, it was damaged badly. Every panel had tow motor dents, the rivets holding on the top panel were completely sheared off, X axis motor cable connector was broken.
Since we signed for it they were trying to make us pay for all of the damages. We sent the machine back, because this thing had been rolled over hard. The bolts on the back of the machine had wood embedded all the way to the bottom of the socket.
This was neither or theirs it was the trucking company's fault. This machine came from Oregon shipped by regular trucking company, so who nows how many hands it passed through. The salesman came out again to crate this thing back up and send it back. He called to see how they wanted it crated back up and did so accordingly. Then we had to wait another 2 months to get another machine, because they put us at the back of the line. When we did we got a invoice for all of the damages totalling almost $3,000 one of the itmes being billed to us was $60 for missing wood crating. What a bunch of BullSh!t. They need to push this damn trucking company, that they ship how many machines through, to pony up the dough. They act as if they don't believe us and think that we rolled it.
I have heard that some people like the machine and it is a good machine for the money. Well that may be true for them but I can tell you that the service absolutely sucks, and they don't give a damn about their customers.

That being said I wish I had gone another route. SNK has a solid looking machine called the Prodigy. Fanuc controls and drives and just seems to be a better machine that's close to the same price.

Sorry for the rant!!
Man that felt good

Oh yeah did I mention that when we received the machine and signed for it, set it in the door and started unwrapping, it was damaged badly.

Click to expand...

Imagine the grief and trouble you could have saved yourself if you insisted on uncrating and inspecting for shipping damage, then refused the POS and put it back on the truck!

"Imagine the grief and trouble you could have saved yourself if you insisted on uncrating and inspecting for shipping damage, then refused the POS and put it back on the truck!"


That is what they tell everyone now. I learned one costly lesson.
The bad thing was it was shipped through one company out west, and then changed hands somewhere to finish the delivery so where was it damaged.
It was his fault.
No it was his fault!

I learned that with a used air compressor one time. Not real serious damage in total.

But I have never trusted trucking companies since!
Usually the bigger the hurry the driver is in, the worse the damage....and the more closely you should inspect....no matter how pissed the driver gets for the delay.

dk

One of the stupidest things about the Omniturn controls is that the feed rate over ride keys F1 thru F10 DO NOT WORK till the axes are in motion.
It starts G0 at 100% and you have to be lucky enough to hit a function key to slow it down.....after its already moving.

DKMC
I have 2 of the Omni-Turn GT75's with the "C" axis. You are absolutely right that the machine will start at the G0 100% rate but I found out that if you will select F10 before starting the cycle once you are in automatic mode a drop down menu will open. This is where you select the cycle repeat and turn on the counter. You can select F1-F10 and this will set the rapid and feed rate to from 10%(F1)to 100%(F10).Then when you press the 2 palm buttons it will start at this reduced rate. I had many a frightening moments before I discovered this.Several crashes too. Hope this will help you avoid the same memorable moments in the future.

Wayne