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Used CNC Lathe

droshi

Aluminum
Joined
Dec 20, 2017
Location
NA
Hi all, first post here!

I have a small business, and looking to bring my very small production in-house for various reasons. My parts can be made 95% on a CNC lathe, only one off-center hole needs to be drilled and tapped (parts are about 3" diameter 304 stainless discs), though if I do get live tooling capabilities, there are a couple other cool features I could mill and engrave.

Since I don't have the cash for a new lathe (and don't want to risk having a large monthly payment), the wisdom around here seems to be to shop around for a used production machine rather than go with something new that wouldn't be as rigid or fast.

My main concern, other than not knowing much about if the mechanical parts are any good (planning to find someone to help me there if I go this route), is the old control systems. My parts really need to be done in CAD/CAM, and I don't need conversational or canned cycles, just the ability to move over g-code from a computer. I have seen it may be possible to retrofit a decent modern control system into the old lathes, and while I could probably figure out everything myself, I would ideally like to reduce the time it takes to be up and running, and focus on making my parts and learning that.

I know the whole "bringing it in-house" is a bag of worms, and while I know many people would say send it to a good shop, it's more or less off the table at this point. I have to do whatever it takes to machine these myself, or give up on the project entirely.

Hoping everyone here can give me a good starting point with what brand machine to look at, and how old is too old to retrofit a new control system. I've seen some old Mazak lathes on eBay that look nice and all, if only they had a way to plug in something other than a floppy! I do have to figured out how to find someone I trust to look them over mechanically as well.

My business partner thinks we should shop new only for those reasons, it's just that at our $30k budget for the machine, I don't think we get a whole lot other than a Tormach or other Chinese built lathe (AutomateCNC, Fryer?). We have priced out a Romi, Haas and several others new, but they come in around $50k at the cheapest before tooling and that's pretty much what we can spend after tooling and other new shop expenses.

Any suggestions welcome!
 
You might be able to get close to your budget with a new Southwestern Industries TRAK lathe. You might be able to get a 5-10 year old TRAK for $15,00. Talk to your local dealer.

Tom
 
Buy a solid name Jap machine. Mori, Okuma and Mazak are all great machines. Even machines from the 80's that are in decent shape are still plenty viable for what you need.

$5k-$10k should buy you a nice one with an 8-10" chuck, basic tooling and a chip conveyor.

Live tools are neat, but a smarter move is buying a CNC mill as well.
 
It would be usefull to know what the size of part is your looking to have turned. Does it need a center?

At least locally with a $30k budget there are plenty of used Mori SL1/SL2/SL3/SL15 availible that fit your budget. SL1/SL2/SL3's in great shape maybe $4-8k, SL15 $8-15k. Mori lathe tooling seems to have dropped in price on ebay as well.

I would only touch a lathe with a Fanuc control personally, I know I can get good service locally, not sure what Fanuc service is like in your area.

Mazaks should be considered as well. I've never run one, but a lot of people here really like the Mazak controls.
 
Hi all, first post here!

I have a small business, and looking to bring my very small production in-house for various reasons. My parts can be made 95% on a CNC lathe, only one off-center hole needs to be drilled and tapped (parts are about 3" diameter 304 stainless discs), though if I do get live tooling capabilities, there are a couple other cool features I could mill and engrave.

Since I don't have the cash for a new lathe (and don't want to risk having a large monthly payment), the wisdom around here seems to be to shop around for a used production machine rather than go with something new that wouldn't be as rigid or fast.

My main concern, other than not knowing much about if the mechanical parts are any good (planning to find someone to help me there if I go this route), is the old control systems. My parts really need to be done in CAD/CAM, and I don't need conversational or canned cycles, just the ability to move over g-code from a computer. I have seen it may be possible to retrofit a decent modern control system into the old lathes, and while I could probably figure out everything myself, I would ideally like to reduce the time it takes to be up and running, and focus on making my parts and learning that.

I know the whole "bringing it in-house" is a bag of worms, and while I know many people would say send it to a good shop, it's more or less off the table at this point. I have to do whatever it takes to machine these myself, or give up on the project entirely.

Hoping everyone here can give me a good starting point with what brand machine to look at, and how old is too old to retrofit a new control system. I've seen some old Mazak lathes on eBay that look nice and all, if only they had a way to plug in something other than a floppy! I do have to figured out how to find someone I trust to look them over mechanically as well.

My business partner thinks we should shop new only for those reasons, it's just that at our $30k budget for the machine, I don't think we get a whole lot other than a Tormach or other Chinese built lathe (AutomateCNC, Fryer?). We have priced out a Romi, Haas and several others new, but they come in around $50k at the cheapest before tooling and that's pretty much what we can spend after tooling and other new shop expenses.

Any suggestions welcome!


[in my best Nancy voice] Just say NO to retrofits....



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

Think Snow Eh!
Ox
 
This would be a nice choice as a starter for you. Assuming it's in good shape and the price point is there. Should be able get the price down maybe 5 to 10% and that would help take care of shipping. They are a good machine and the programming easy to learn. No need for a CADCAM with Mazarols.

MAZAK SQT-15M CNC Lathe Turning Center. Live Tooling / Milling. Full "C" Axis. | eBay

This one.

Do you absolutely, positively need the ability to bring over g-code programs? You could always go with a Mazak with EIA, but I've yet to meet a lathe piece that I can't program considerably faster in Mazatrol...and I'm not a complete slouch when it comes to CAM. Even most of your live tooling business will be a cinch. Mazaks seem to be built like tanks and as far as support goes you'll never run out of that.
 
Thanks for all the advice, I figured the used machines would be where everyone would suggest. I have seen that exact Mazak on eBay and it does look like a great deal, unfortunately being on the other coast I don't think I'd be able to see it in person.

I really do feel the need for using CAM and bringing over G-code, anything else and I just couldn't spend 30k on it. I know in that case I would just have unfinished parts sitting around for months trying to figure out how to do the last couple operations. Speed of programming or ease directly in the controller doesn't matter at all to me. Just parts and getting in G-code from CAM.

Sure a lathe and a mill would be great, though I don't think I could get what I'm looking for both at $30k and updated to modern control systems.

I have been looking on the used market with dealers, but unfortunately their prices are nowhere in my budget and nowhere close to the prices on eBay or mentioned here in this thread. Does anyone have a place I should call near Raleigh? Or within a few hour driving distance?
 
It would be usefull to know what the size of part is your looking to have turned. Does it need a center?

At least locally with a $30k budget there are plenty of used Mori SL1/SL2/SL3/SL15 availible that fit your budget. SL1/SL2/SL3's in great shape maybe $4-8k, SL15 $8-15k. Mori lathe tooling seems to have dropped in price on ebay as well.

I would only touch a lathe with a Fanuc control personally, I know I can get good service locally, not sure what Fanuc service is like in your area.

Mazaks should be considered as well. I've never run one, but a lot of people here really like the Mazak controls.

I mentioned diameter in my main post, 3.25" stock is my plan, each part is only 0.5" thick, so as a disc I would plan to turn a few off a short bar stock, then load the next stock in, no plans to use a tailstock or support since I need to drill a hole down the center, face groove, profile (ideally then live tool), thread and then part off.

I can find prices like that online, but so far haven't found a local dealer with prices like that. Fanuc does seem to be the best supported used controllers, can you get g-code into them from CAM?
 
I personally would opt for the newest machine possible. The old mazak parts are really high. Worked at a place that had a 98 tplus quickturn 20 and a drive and power supply went bad costing right at 15k to replace.
 
Sure a lathe and a mill would be great, though I don't think I could get what I'm looking for both at $30k and updated to modern control systems.

What do you mean by modern control system?

The industry leaders- Fanuc and Mitsubishi- Have been making essentially the same exact thing since the early 80's. Many technologies have been refined in that timespan to allow faster positioning and very high feedrates, but you are talking about a 2 axis lathe in stainless here. I'm not sure what, if any, advantage a new machine would have for you.

There are many old controls best avoided or ones that were shitty even when they were new, but if it says Fanuc on it or mazatrol it's a pretty safe bet.

Make sure you are doing an accurate comparison of used VS new for your needs. $30k will buy you a lot of used machine(s) if you don't need less than 10 years old.
 
I personally would opt for the newest machine possible. The old mazak parts are really high. Worked at a place that had a 98 tplus quickturn 20 and a drive and power supply went bad costing right at 15k to replace.

Using the same people to fix it, what would a drive and power supply cost for a brand new Mazak?

This logic makes no sense. I have replaced and repaired a lot of CNC parts and the most I have ever spent at a time is a tenth of $15k.

If I paid Mori to come out and swap out some of the same parts it would have been inline with your numbers, but that's not how small shops do things.
 
What do you mean by modern control system?

The industry leaders- Fanuc and Mitsubishi- Have been making essentially the same exact thing since the early 80's. Many technologies have been refined in that timespan to allow faster positioning and very high feedrates, but you are talking about a 2 axis lathe in stainless here. I'm not sure what, if any, advantage a new machine would have for you.

There are many old controls best avoided or ones that were shitty even when they were new, but if it says Fanuc on it or mazatrol it's a pretty safe bet.

Make sure you are doing an accurate comparison of used VS new for your needs. $30k will buy you a lot of used machine(s) if you don't need less than 10 years old.

By "modern" I just mean something I can load post processed code from a CAM software onto. I'm using Fusion 360 now, but if needed I could go with some other software. I don't want to program in the controller or use canned cycles, they may be faster in many cases, but since my parts don't change much I want to change them up in CAM.

The actual controller on the machine I don't care much about other than putting in tool offsets and if it breaks hopefully isn't the $15k to replace. I'm OK with used replacement equipment as well if it's a good value.

Any version of Fanuc or Mazatrol can load CAM post-processed code? Even if it's loaded by a serial cable or something it doesn't have to be networked or have USB.

I'm definitely trying to evaluate the real risk I have new vs used. In my price range, even new is a healthy risk for the machines I get, so just have to add up the real costs!
 
If I paid Mori to come out and swap out some of the same parts it would have been inline with your numbers, but that's not how small shops do things.

Not you or I or likely any others who posted in this thread. But, you'd be surprised. One thing I have learned in the pursuit of fixing machines is the helplessness of most shop owners to fix anything, let alone a CNC machine.

It's like they have no idea that there are resources like PM. They can't read or understand the maintenance manuals that come with their machines. All they know is it's broken and they want it fixed ASAP (but they don't have any money...)



I've got a 1993ish Mori Seiki SL-20 I'd sell for a lot less than $30k. Yasnac control, AC servos, 8" chuck, 3J collet nose, some tool holders, etc...
 
By "modern" I just mean something I can load post processed code from a CAM software onto. I'm using Fusion 360 now, but if needed I could go with some other software. I don't want to program in the controller or use canned cycles, they may be faster in many cases, but since my parts don't change much I want to change them up in CAM.

The actual controller on the machine I don't care much about other than putting in tool offsets and if it breaks hopefully isn't the $15k to replace. I'm OK with used replacement equipment as well if it's a good value.

Any version of Fanuc or Mazatrol can load CAM post-processed code? Even if it's loaded by a serial cable or something it doesn't have to be networked or have USB.

You can do that with ANY Fanuc control. Most Mazak's with Mazatrol will support G-code, but you need to verify to be sure.

Don't worry about the year. In your shoes, my primary concern would be condition. Buy private party and get a warm fuzzy about the machine.
 
I mentioned diameter in my main post, 3.25" stock is my plan, each part is only 0.5" thick, so as a disc I would plan to turn a few off a short bar stock, then load the next stock in, no plans to use a tailstock or support since I need to drill a hole down the center, face groove, profile (ideally then live tool), thread and then part off.

I can find prices like that online, but so far haven't found a local dealer with prices like that. Fanuc does seem to be the best supported used controllers, can you get g-code into them from CAM?

sorry I missed the diameter reference. the parts your looking at are ideal parts for a Mori SL1/SL2, SL2 would be better to take heavier cuts. If your concerned about newer controls, I've seen SL3's with fanuc 0M controls, there are probably SL2's with fanuc 0M's as well. That's a very nice control.

I wouldn't be concerned about Mori's with older fanuc controls.

Any mori can take Gcode via a cable, very old controls may need a BTR to transfer programs (late 70's early 80's), but any running lathe should have had a BTR added by now.
 
Not knowing any more about your parts than we do, could you machine it on a mill? That'd give you the ability to do your off-center hole and any engraving you'd like. You'd just have to get your material cut to length.

What part of North Carolina? I work in Burlington.
 
Thanks! This helps a lot, I was thinking I would have to update the control on most of these to get anywhere with CAM. I'll look around.


Not knowing any more about your parts than we do, could you machine it on a mill? That'd give you the ability to do your off-center hole and any engraving you'd like. You'd just have to get your material cut to length.

What part of North Carolina? I work in Burlington.

Anything is possible I'm sure! But 90% of the part is lathe work. I'm reasonably sure it would be 10x longer to do on a mill, and need 2 operations. I may need 2 ops anyway if I go with the hole on a separate machine (may even just get a drill press for it, it's just a 1/8" NPT drill and tap).

Shop is in Hillsborough, so I'm very close to you!
 
Thanks for all the advice, I figured the used machines would be where everyone would suggest. I have seen that exact Mazak on eBay and it does look like a great deal, unfortunately being on the other coast I don't think I'd be able to see it in person.

If I had upto $30k in budget to buy a machine, and it was on the other coast, I would find the $'s to go and see the machine, a non stop round trip ticket from Raleigh (just guessing your close by) to LAX is approx $340 according to Orbitz. Of course shipping that machine may not be cheap.

I've met the guys who run Rohner while camping at the So Cal MX nationals this year, seemed to be legit, didn't have the cheap used car salesman smell/mentatlity most machinery dealers have.

Machinery Exchange in Chatsworth would be worth looking at, they have an online presence
 
If I had upto $30k in budget to buy a machine, and it was on the other coast, I would find the $'s to go and see the machine, a non stop round trip ticket from Raleigh (just guessing your close by) to LAX is approx $340 according to Orbitz. Of course shipping that machine may not be cheap.

I've met the guys who run Rohner while camping at the So Cal MX nationals this year, seemed to be legit, didn't have the cheap used car salesman smell/mentatlity most machinery dealers have.
Yup just outside of Raleigh, thought my profile had that in it.

Thanks good to know about them. Yes a flight isn't out of the question if everything looks good, though I wouldn't know what I'm looking at, I maybe should look for someone over there to take a look at the machine for me. Or send someone else. It's just that based on looking here it seems like you have to look at quite a number to find something in good shape. So I would be likely flying someone to several places before actually finding something, but it would certainly open up more possibilities on machines.
 








 
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