Makino KE 55 CNC mill - Anyone else here got one ?

If so, just wondering how to operate the rapid travel button (don't have a manual yet)

Just wondering, what was the condition of the KE 55 you got. I was very tempted to buy it as the price was right on it but the pics sucked. I knew it would'nt last a day. Thanks Jason.

demoj21 said:

Just wondering, what was the condition of the KE 55 you got. I was very tempted to buy it as the price was right on it but the pics sucked. I knew it would'nt last a day. Thanks Jason.

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I don't think you want to know as you'll be sick when I tell you

Yeah, it was a high risk purchase but I lucked out. Funny part is I was desperate for the seller to email me some photos of inside the electronics cabinet, so he gets the employee (3 hours away from him) to do so and the photos turn out to be inside the CRT console ! (i.e. worthless) And then they couldn't do photos inside the actual electrical cabinet because they couldn't find the key to open it !! All the while I'm cringing as any second someone else might hit the BIN button.

Seller had good feedback but they were all on low dollar stuff...so that didn't mean much....plus this wasn't even his machine...he was broker. But I bought it anyway, based on his descriptions of other machines from the same company..... and it turned out very well. They eventually found the electrical cabinet key and it is pristine inside....not a speck of dirt in there and no messed with wiring. Also lucky the 17 year old lithium battery still had full voltage...so all parameters intact as well. First time I turned on the spindle I was annoyed that it wasn't working....but then I looked to my left and realized even at 1,200 rpm I couldn't actually hear the spindle running....but it was.

(and FWIW, the question that started this thread was a pretty stupid question as I had simply forgot to home the machine first. Turns out you can run the axis and the spindle without homing so didn't occur to me it had to be homed for rapid to work. Of course having no manual at first I didn't even know how to home it as there is no "home" button..but I eventually figured it out)

I had to walk away from the computer as to not hit the buy it now. By the listing you could tell the seller had no idea what he had which can be a good thing or bad thing for the buyer. Sounds like this one is one i should have jumped on. Good luck with the sell.Later Jason.

demoj21 said:

By the listing you could tell the seller had no idea what he had which can be a good thing or bad thing for the buyer.

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Exactly... high risk, as I said. But my intuition, based on conversations with seller while he was on phone with the actual owner employee, told me to go for it. I told him to tell employee to turn the spindle by hand and he should not hear or feel anything whatsoever...so he did, and reported it perfect. While I was on phone with seller he tells me "oh, I'm so sorry, someone just clicked the BIN"...but the someone was me. Seller (broker) turned out to be a super nice guy and surprisingly on the ball.

So, do you intend to sell it? Asking price?

I can't remember the rapid travel button. It's been 10-12 yrs since I ran a KE. I'll ask a shop down the road about it. I think they still have there's. The KEs are slick machines. There are qiuite a few of those floating around shops in my area. They were tricky to run by the hand wheels if you are used to crankin on a bridgeport. With three hand wheels pointing straight at you, I was always guaranteed to crank one the wrong way into a part.

alphonso said:

So, do you intend to sell it? Asking price?

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Sorry, but I haven't decided yet. I probably should sell it but I like using it so much it will be a tough decision.

As a manual mill, it's just so cool to have all 3 handwheels and continuous feed levers right there on the front and each axis moves effortlessly (since they really are MPG's after all) and to just press "spindle forward" and adjust the speed via pot as needed and just press a button on the head to change tools. Unlike a Deckel or Maho, it's certainly not very versatile (no moving quill, no head tilt, no horizontal spindle, no removable table), but the extremely positive charms it does have are hard to relate unless you have actually used a KE-55.

I have yet to try and drill anything sensitive with it manually but I can see that it will probably be such that it doesn't really need a moving quill if you just keep an eye on the chip flow since it will be nearly effortless to move the table up and down via the handwheel and yet control the situation much better than holding a seperate MPG unit. (one thing that is annoying to me about the typical MPG on CNC machines is the "indentation" feel as you turn the dial, which is understandable if using one for it's intended "setup" use, but these handwheels are smooth as silk) Lack of moving quill is annoying on a typical all manual machine where you have to crank the Z up or rely on a power feed rate that may not be ideal...but on this machine where you can crank the Z so effortlessly and the handwheel is in ideal position...it's no problem.

david n said:

I can't remember the rapid travel button. It's been 10-12 yrs since I ran a KE. I'll ask a shop down the road about it. I think they still have there's.

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I answered my own question at the end of post #3.