I have been carefully reading up on lathe options over recent weeks, as my current little cnc lathe isn't very good - it can sort of do what I want, but its really time consuming to the point I think a manual lathe would be as quick.
SO i have been reading up on any cnc lathe that comes up for a good price, to check it will be an improvement and read up what people are saying about them.
A while ago two Hardinge CHNC1 came up for sale as a job lot, I had no room for the both but the price point got me interested. After reading up it seems they are perfect for the sort of work I will be doing (small motorcycle spacers/cylindrical parts) mostly in alu or delrin, and as the spindle motor isn't a monster I can more easily run it off a rotary phase converter without too eye watering a price tag (RPC cost more in the UK as there is a very small market for them, so no economies of scale)
From what I have read these lathes are solid enough with a few faults:
collet closer leaks
turret index issues (again linked to air leaks/failures in the air driven system)
Controller boards going pop
X axis motors getting worn and going pop
Another one has come up for sale, and I have come to an arrangement with the seller to hold it for when I go and see it on Monday - an small engineering shop is closing as the owner retires.
I'd welcome advice about a few points please:
As the cost of rigging is more than the cost of the lathe, and the RPC is double the price of both, the lathe itself isn't the main cost, but I have a budget and I'm really pushing it for this so any advice would be welcome.
Cheers folks!
SO i have been reading up on any cnc lathe that comes up for a good price, to check it will be an improvement and read up what people are saying about them.
A while ago two Hardinge CHNC1 came up for sale as a job lot, I had no room for the both but the price point got me interested. After reading up it seems they are perfect for the sort of work I will be doing (small motorcycle spacers/cylindrical parts) mostly in alu or delrin, and as the spindle motor isn't a monster I can more easily run it off a rotary phase converter without too eye watering a price tag (RPC cost more in the UK as there is a very small market for them, so no economies of scale)
From what I have read these lathes are solid enough with a few faults:
collet closer leaks
turret index issues (again linked to air leaks/failures in the air driven system)
Controller boards going pop
X axis motors getting worn and going pop
Another one has come up for sale, and I have come to an arrangement with the seller to hold it for when I go and see it on Monday - an small engineering shop is closing as the owner retires.
I'd welcome advice about a few points please:
- apart from the things I have listed, is there anything else I should look for?
- the spindle has a collet type system, am I right in thinking these can be swapped out for the odd job that may require a 3 or 4 jaw chuck? I wont be doing bigger parts much, but its handy to know I can if needed
- What size rotary phase converter should I aim for? the plate on the machine says 7.5 KW, and I understand the main spindle is 5hp
As the cost of rigging is more than the cost of the lathe, and the RPC is double the price of both, the lathe itself isn't the main cost, but I have a budget and I'm really pushing it for this so any advice would be welcome.
Cheers folks!