Reliable tool Deckel FP4NC

I an new to this site, butI have something of possible interest. I ended up with the Deckel FP4NC.The end of july I saw the machine on Ebay and decided to bid up to 12k . I was tied up when the auction ended, but was suprised to see that it went for about 15k. About a mounth later I saw the machine on Ebay again and spoke to the people at reliable tool. They said that the sale had not gone through because of issues with the machine, but they had had the machine fixed. A call to DMG america with the machine serial # indicated that all parts were still avalible so I put in a bid for 12k again. This time it sold for 8600.00 and I am the proud owner. The iron looks excellant ,the spindle runs nicely, and the servo and axis systems seem to work well,but there are still some controll issues. The two holes in the pendant cover must be the result of being shot by someone who finally had enough of the panel buttons which don't work? I have spoken to the Deckel Doc And have no doubt that it will be making chips soon. I have two other FP4 machines, bolth with the ultimax controll and this machine will look nice in line with them

Well welcome!
I think we were all wondering where the machine went and now we know... By all accounts, it was supposed to be pretty nice, which your summation seems to confirm.

If you have 2 of the Ultimax machines, then I'm sure DD told you that you have about 1/7 of all of the Ultimax-Deckel machines ever made! I gather you must like the control if you went to the extent of buying a second. I would be curious to hear what you feel about a comparison between the Dialog vs. Hurco once you get the Dialog running well.... Did you get those two Hurco based machines on eBay? There were a few of them a couple of years ago.

Anyhow, once again, welcome.
--Alan

LOL, my FP2NC had button issues, but they went away by themselves...no bullet holes invovled! I have no idea why. Something must be different about the environment in my garage versus the shop the machine lived in previously. Temperature difference? Corrosive atmosphere ate contacts? Oily atmoshpere coated contacts? Anyway, knock on wood....

I know one Hurco/Deckel was sold out of that Navy base up in the bay area. I previewed that auction. Something Island or...?

Sean

Speaking of the Devil, I didn't even know THESE existed. Whoa!

Sean

Yeah, I'd love to have one of the newer Ultimax controls. I hear they are quite nice (PC based too, I believe ). The version of the Ultimax on Deckels, of course, is quite a bit older... The Ultimax II, I believe. The first version was supposed to be a dog (per my brother), but the later ones had a higher processor speed, etc.

Alan

Yeah, I actually like the Star Trek look of the older one's.

Goes to show though, in 2007, they are not only PC based, but Windows based. Food for thought.

Sean
(let's not hijack this thread though)

Hi centralutahtool

It was great to see you on this forum and Bruce and I look forward to seeing you in about a week.
Is your new FP4NC up and running yet!! What problems did you have with it? I think you once told me that one of your Fadals could not get the accuracy you needed so you put it on the Deckel, am I accurate or is my memory shot?

Hope you can post some pictures of the PF4NC that you got from Reliable.

William

The new? Deckel seems to be ready to go. The control issues I mentioned boiled down to 2 items. At first I got an alarm #38 on startup. There is a battery pack in the control console, and if it is allowed to charge a bit the control starts up fine. The second problem was with the push button switches which were stubborn or totally dead. While playing around in the console I let the smoke out of something, but I saw about where the smoke came from. Closer inspection revealed a dead IC on the PCB with the rotary switches. A chat with Don S., $4.00 to mouser electronics, and an hour with a soldering pencil and the machine works great.The servos and spindle all sound good and the iron looks to be in like new condition.It has been about 16 years since I owned 2 FP3NC machines so I will have to clean the cobwebs out of my memory and relearn the dialog 3 control. As far as accuracy goes,about 2 years ago I ran some EDM tooling on one of my FP4A's with the ultimax for a medical company with more money in inspection equipment than my whole shop is worth.On 3D contours my parts were within .5 micron (.00002in) of nominal. Not bad for a 20+ year old machine. William,I should see you and bruce about sept. 15. I have a bunch of cylinders and valves for bruce and I should also have valve guides by then(all for the 1/6 scale P&W )