Another machine joins the stable...

[AdeV]

A mad moment on eBay seems to have netted me a shiny(ish) new(ish) CNC lathe. 

As this is me, you can be sure it's not some shy retiring machine.... nope, it's a Mazak Quickslant 20 4-axis 2-turret beast with a 56mm spindle bore, 16 tool positions, 500mm length capacity, 22kw motor, etcetera.... All I need to do is find a 3m x 2m space to put it now... easier said than done....

All for the princely sum of £755, and it'll cost me about another £250 to have it delivered. That's when the fun will begin...

What have I done!?!   

[awemawson]

Well done that man 

Join the 'Totally mad, large CNC lathe' sub group 

[mattinker]

Nothing like a good bit of impulse buying!

All the best, Matthew

[Joules]

Wonder if I could get one in the spare bedroom 

[AdeV]

Andrew - Yep, we should definitely have a "big impractical and daft to own machines" sub-club... I may yet need your help commissioning this thing, there's no sign of any documentation (I haven't even seen the machine yet!), and it looks like it's been through a couple of auctions - the pictures were from its previous sale in 2013... so it may be shot, who knows.

Matt - thanks!

Jules - how big is your window? 

[RobWilson]

Nice one Ade 

That's some bit of kit


Rob

[John Rudd]

Nice purchase.....

So what are you going to make with it? A pocket watch perhaps or maybe a small mantle clock?

[awemawson]

Ade, being a Mazak there'll be a lot more info out on the web than for my Traub I reckon

[Spurry]

Looks like an exciting prospect to master.
I just wish my electricity supply was up to running something like that.
Pete

[mechman48]

OMG what a machine 
What on earth are you going to make with that... & how many thousands    I'd have loved to have heard SWMBO / finance director had to say when she found out...

Have fun 

George.

[AdeV]

Cheers chaps - I'm certainly looking forward to getting it "home" and plugged in... I just hope it all works!

First project.... hmmm... I'm sure I've got a wristwatch around here with a dodgy gear in it 

I think I might have a go at turning the dizzy drive shaft for the XJS with it actually - the Edgwick cuts a slight taper, and I'm pretty sure this shaft needs to be precise. Will have a go at doing the holder as well, I think; it's got a bit of an internal structure (the original dizzy being a casting) which I would hate to try to replicate by hand.

George: Fortunately I don't have a finance director just now! So I am buying stuff like it's going out of fashion, just in case I do get one!!

[SteveT]

That looks a lot of machine for the money and a good find I think 

I know with the Makak machine centres you have to get Mazak to reactivate the machine if its moved (something imposed by the US government to stop you making WMD  ) .
Is it the same for CNC lathes?

[Will_D]

And to think my old ML7 is valued at twice that! (or more)

There is something 'askew' in the machine tool universe

[PekkaNF]

And to think my old ML7 is valued at twice that! (or more)

There is something 'askew' in the machine tool universe

Nope.

Under 1 metric tons even old and crappy machines have bidders.

When machine weights more that 3-5 metric tons....it's often cheaper for the company to have someone to remove it than trying to sell them on whatever time limit. Also there are very few townhouses with 9m2 of floorspace and a floor that can carry the weight and +32A three phase feeds......

If I had the space and thick cable I would have now a mighty spot welder (64A 400VAC), 5t milling machine and 3 ton lathe, total buying price cheaper than I'm planning to spend on next poxy milling machine.

Pekka

[AdeV]

And to think my old ML7 is valued at twice that! (or more)

There is something 'askew' in the machine tool universe

Part of the reason it's so cheap is because it's in unknown condition. It might be a big pile of scrap metal yet... Another factor is its location - Burscough (near Southport) is a long way from a lot of the country, and transport costs for something this size are quite high. Final factor, I'd guess, is its age - newer machines are faster & more capable, and if you're going to spend the thick end of £50k on a CNC lathe, why would you consider an old lump like this?

Now... all of that said, I've seen similar size/quality machines selling for 10x this one, and I suspect if I can get it all working, I could re-sell it for nearer it's "true" worth... not that I plan on doing that of course (HMRC might have other ideas though).

[awemawson]

(HMRC might have other ideas though).

I'd like to see them take 'walking possession' of it 

[AdeV]

Today was the big day! The Xmas/NY period was productively spent - 3/4 headscratching "where the hell are we going to  move THAT to so it's out of the way???, and 1/4 actually moving stuff. Oh, and about 1/3 playing "one last" game of pool before dismantling the table for storage. Hopefully one day it'll be out again & wasting more valuable workshop time...

So anyway, here's the pics. Click on them for bigger versions:

Arriving:


Slipped through the ramp nicely:


Resplendent in its new home:


Turrets, 2 off:


Mahoosive tailstock (with internal spinny thing I believe):


Eww, a bit grubby in there. Lots of degreaser needed...


So... toolholders - a few, of sorts, Looks like I'll be busy making some.
Chuck jaws: None - looks like I'll be making or buying some of those too.
Power: Haven't tried it yet... bought the cable & plug, but I'm going to have to run a 63A cable from the leccy box to the lathe, as it wants more than the 32A stuff I've got. I'll spin her up on 32A for now, I suspect the big amps will be needed when those turrets are flying around & taking big heavy cuts.

[awemawson]

And there was I thinking you'd bought a big one Ade 

Good luck - it'll be an interesting journey 

[Divided he ad]

You sir are definitely holder of the proud title of MAD modder! 


That there is one massive lump! 



Hopefully it all checks out and it'll be making some crazy parts soon.... At least you've got the tech skills to do all the programming. That's where I'd fail!





Good luck,



Ralph.

[sparky961]

Looks a lot like the machine I spend a lot of time with at work.... except with a bit more crud and a LOT MORE GREEN.  Oh, and mine only has one turret.  Never touched a Mazak control though.  All my time has been spent on Fanuc.

One thing I learned very quickly at the start - fortunately not too painfully - is that you want to slowly dry run EVERY PROGRAM no matter how simple you think it is or how good you think you are.  This is more important for a CNC lathe with turret because you have so many combinations of potential interference.  Instead of just the tool/spindle of a mill contacting anything while moving around, you now have all of the tools in the turret (not just the one that's active), the spinning chuck jaws, the part (of course), tailstock/centre (possibly), and the wall of the cabinet.  Watch for tools sticking out the back of the turret too!  Add to the mix that depending on your material and cutting parameters, you might be getting long stringers wrapped around many of the above.  I go a step further and run it with the chuck stopped, no part installed.  I manually turn the chuck back and forth to check clearances when things get too close for comfort.  Once this has been done, you've eliminated any interference except for those with the part and chips. 

None of this is to say it's "hard", just that there's more to think about and check before pressing the big green button and turning your back.  It's a different mindset than running a CNC mill for sure.  I'm not sure if I have anything to offer, but I'm eager to help where anything falls within my scope of knowledge.

[vtsteam]

Oh wow.......!   Ade, how far are the Jag and the Mazak from each other? Can they yell at each other in the night...."No man, it's my turn tomorrow......" 

I gotta go out and buy another pound of popcorn kernels.....this should be a hell of a duet!   

[AdeV]

Thanks all! I'm just glad I've got the space & electricity supply to run them all...

Unfortunately, it looks like 4th time unlucky.... I can't get the NC to boot up, just get a flashing cursor on the screen. Virtually none of the LEDs on the circuit boards light up, and random pressing of the various reset buttons has no effect. I've got 2 lights on on the control panel (start & stop both lit), and the various counters are lit up showing zeros. Some of the lights come on when you press buttons, but not all.

So... next stop, find a hardware reference manual & start troubleshooting...

[awemawson]

Unless the back up batteries have been changed regularly it will probably have lost all it's parameters, however you'd expect the controller to come up into a basic interface to reload them 

[AdeV]

Yep, chances are the parameters are toast... which is going to slow me down - there's a couple of people over on CNC zone who claim to be running the same machine, so hopefully I can touch one of them for the parameters.... when I get to that stage. I think there's something more fundamental wrong at the moment.

[Biggles]

I hear you have plenty of renewables up north. lots of windmills for the leki!