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Experiences with Option 20-station revolver on a DMG Mori NLX 2000?

Fabian_Schurter

Plastic
Joined
Dec 17, 2020
Location
Luzern, Switzerland
Whats up everyone,

.. we are replacing our old cnc turning center, and are about to pull the trigger. Okuma LB2000 EXII or DMG Mori NLX 2000, y-axis, no sub spindle. Right now, the Mori is the favourite, the package offered is just a bit nicer than okuma.

One feature which stands out to us is the option of having a 20-station revolver instead of the standart 12-station.
The machine will not purely be used as a production machine, but for various different types of work: hard turning, prototyping, repair, single parts and small series; from hardened steel to plastics. Therefore we usually do quite a bit of set up work, changing tools, and so on. This is why we like the 20 station option: more tools on the revolver, possibly meaning less changing / set up work.

However, we will only opt for the 20-station, if there are no (major) drawbacks coming with it. Especially important to us, we want to keep the full +/- 50mm travel on the y-axis. Also, keeping the full milling performance. My thinking was, bigger 20-station revolver = maybe less travel on y-axis? , smaller bmt 40 holder = maybe less milling perormance?

So, can anyone confirm / deny this?

Experiences / opinions on this option 20-station revolver?

Thoughts?


Thanks a lot for any kinds of inputs!


Have a good one,

Fabian
 
Hopefully somebody who actually purchased the option can chime in. Not sure I've ever seen it.

You give up a lot of room for those extra stations, and tools start to get crowded. Most folks add extra tools by just setting up multiple tools in a single station that are offset it Y (double or quads). That way you have the ability to add "extra" slots, while still retaining enough space for bigger tools when required.

Personally I think the best tooling investment for a job shop lathe will be some CAPTO holders that you can swap in and out fast.
 
Hopefully somebody who actually purchased the option can chime in. Not sure I've ever seen it.

You give up a lot of room for those extra stations, and tools start to get crowded. Most folks add extra tools by just setting up multiple tools in a single station that are offset it Y (double or quads). That way you have the ability to add "extra" slots, while still retaining enough space for bigger tools when required.

Personally I think the best tooling investment for a job shop lathe will be some CAPTO holders that you can swap in and out fast.

Thanks man, by the way also thanks for your inputs in my other thread osp vs. celos control - lots of good inputs, appreciated :)

About the 20-station revolver - somehow I really want to like it, especially because financially it would be within the budget. But my gut feeling remains a bit skeptical; yes more slots and more tools on the revolver would be nice, but at what cost? Are there any downsides to it I cannot see yet? We will have the dmg rep in house this friday, and I think we will have to discuss this.

Thanks and have a good one,

Fabian
 
if you mainly do small diameter stuff in a collet, more stations would not be as big of a problem.

big diameter short parts in a chuck, not so much. You can always take the tools off adjacent stations. Obviously its impossible to add them.

I wish many many many times I had one or two more stations for driven tools. We only have 12 station turrets on our NLXs.


In my opinion, not knowing anything about what your work looks like. If you had to choose between 20 station turret or a subspindle. For me it would be Subspindle, hands down.
 
smaller bmt 40 holder = maybe less milling perormance?

Probably, and less clearance for longer tools in the radial orientation. The NLX's built in motor has a lot of power and the limiter is the live tool holder.

If it's just setup time reduction you're looking to achieve, consider quick change holders.

The 20-station turret makes more sense if you have known production jobs where you need to utilize all the stations for the same part, or a series of production jobs where the 20 stations will allow you to switch between jobs without having to change out any turret setups. We fell into the latter camp. After pricing out the cost of a bunch of quick change holders, we opted to just buy a couple Haas lathes to complement our NLX2500SY.

Totally agree with others that the Subspindle should be heavily considered.
 








 
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