What's new
What's new

Thiel Duplex 155

Joined
Jan 15, 2005
Location
The Netherlands
I recently bought a milling machine Thiel Duplex 155 Mainly because I was curious how it was compared to the Duplex 159 the TH140 and TH150
I thought to share a few things
It has a seperate DC motor for the feeds and rapids and a typical transparent cover over the gearbox
It turned out that the drive for that motor was connected completly wrong and even the electrical diagram is of no or little help if you have 2 different ones with the same number anyhow :nutter: But with the help of my electronic goeroe it got solved
It has a seperate oilpump with its own motor A bit loud BTW Acc. the dokumentation there was a option to have the Z-axe balanced with hydraulics using that oilpump Mine does not have that
It has only powerfeeds and rapids on the X and Z

XYZ is 350-200-350mm ,18 to 2500 RPM ant it has a quill with NT40

Overall it is a nice machine Perhaps this was their budget machine
At the looks of it perhaps the predecessor of the TH140/150
Not as nice though
What do you guys think of it

A few pictures

Peter from Holland
BTW I am a machinery dealer so the machine is for sale

147791-dsc07568.jpg


147793-dsc07566.jpg


147797-dsc07563.jpg


147795-dsc07564.jpg


147792-dsc07567.jpg
 
Interesting ,not heard of this model before nor the TH140 /50, what year is this machine Peterve? When did Thiel seize to exist? I believe the were taken over by Maho?

Does this machine have a horizontal quill?
 
Hi Peter,

This is a good-looking machine!

Before I bought my FP2, I was close to purchasing a very clean TH150, but someone beat me to it. One cool feature was hydraulic locks on the three ways. Unlike the FP2, when you lock these down they do not slip! But as you know there isn't the same active marketplace for used and new parts, so I think it's harder to maintain them on a budget.

What is that big "porthole" on one side -- is that a glass window into the inner workings? Kind of like one of those fine mechanical watches with a glass back to see the innards?

Cheers,
Bruce
 
Hi Peter,

This is a good-looking machine!

Before I bought my FP2, I was close to purchasing a very clean TH150, but someone beat me to it. One cool feature was hydraulic locks on the three ways. Unlike the FP2, when you lock these down they do not slip! But as you know there isn't the same active marketplace for used and new parts, so I think it's harder to maintain them on a budget.

What is that big "porthole" on one side -- is that a glass window into the inner workings? Kind of like one of those fine mechanical watches with a glass back to see the innards?

Cheers,
Bruce


Bruce

That could have been me :D
I have bought a TH150 with hydraulic clamping in Germany about 5 years ago
See this post http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/deckel-maho-aciera-abene-mills/thiel-th-150-a-216215/
That hydraulic clamping was a option BTW
I had another one in 2013 that did not have that option
Very genius way of clamping BTW It was a hose in a groove that was pumped up and that raised a clamping piece all over the lenght of the gib
The lubrication system was used for the innitial filling of the hose and then just a bolt that was screwed in and out the system took care of the clamping and release action

That porthole indeed is a plastic window to see the innerds of the machine
some sort of oversized oilglass


Sabre

The electrical diagram has 1972 on it So YOM is eighter that or younger a couple of years
The machine has no horizontal quill
Thiel has a intresting history as after the war it was split up in fact
you could eigter read up on Tony`s site Lathes.co.uk or German Wikipedia
Both do not mention the end of the Thiel machines department

Peter from holland
 
Nice machine! I own a thiel duplex 158. fantastic build quality! How do you rank the different thiel mills? Ive seen that you have owned most of the models.

Ola from Norway
 
I have a 158S and one noticeable improvement on this machine is the angle on the handwheel for raising the knee ,I find that quite awkward on mine ,especially as it is quite hard work to wind it ,is that usually the case or is there something wrong with mine?
 
Mine run quite nice. I guess using the quick feed if you have the 158s will make it a bit easier. However if you have the one eithout a sepeaprate feed motor maybe fitting one with a vfd could be an alternative?
 
Mine run quite nice. I guess using the quick feed if you have the 158s will make it a bit easier. However if you have the one eithout a sepeaprate feed motor maybe fitting one with a vfd could be an alternative?

It does have the separate motor.... but it's burnt out.

When I bought it the feed motor had been replaced with a new one ,I wanted the old one but it had been scrapped ,the new motor only lasted a matter of minutes so I think it may be under powered ,for most of what I use it for the lack of power feeds isn't that much of a problem but raising the knee up and down is a pain, another job on the "To do" list, also the feed gearbox leaks pretty badly so that needs sorting as well.
 
Ola
The 158 is obsolete with its MT5 spindle. I don`t buy those anymore But if you can live with the MT5 and have enough tooling with it you have a great machine for a low price
The Duplex 159 is the best designed toolroom milling machine for me
Perfect quality Great design details like the tapered noniusrings the clamping mechanisme of the overarm
The powerfeeds on the quill Even the gearboxes you can remove the lid and all parts stay in place

The TH140 and 150 are from a more modern design with a smaller footprint Perhaps a bit more deckellike
Very decent design but IMHO the 159 is the best

peter from Holland
 
I see! I have some holder and a fellow machinist with 2 158s mills will be making a batch of holders. Im also thinking of making a sandvik kosta toolholder for the mt5 taper. I have about 50 different holders for that so it would solve some problems. If you happen to stumble across a 158s parts machine or some accessories in very interrested. Do you know if the 158 and 159 have interchangable heads?
 
I do not know if the heads are interchangable but I happen to have a head for a 158 for sale Its the one with the powerfeeds
I don`t know if it works but its cheap

Peter from holland
 
Ola
The Duplex 159 is the best designed toolroom milling machine for me
Perfect quality Great design details like the tapered noniusrings the clamping mechanisme of the overarm
The powerfeeds on the quill Even the gearboxes you can remove the lid and all parts stay in place
I really like the 155 Peter. I had the opportunity to buy a Thiel Duplex 159 about a year ago. It's the only 159 I have heard of in Australia. It had a spare slotting head. I went to the site to buy it and came home with a Deckel FP2. I reasoned that it would be too hard to find parts for the 159 compared to the FP2. I did get the Thiel rotary table however.

IMG_3612.jpg IMG_0881.jpg
 
Year of manufacture

Hello,

I'm intrested in all information about THIEL. My machine is a THIEL Duplex 158 S from 1964.

Do you know the year of manufacture of your THIEL 155?
 








 
Back
Top