Found the last machine for a good while

[vmipacman]

We’ve had 4 cnc machines on our must have list for a while and finically found the last one.
It’s a large horizontal lathe.
Checks all the boxes:
-large, heavy, well made.
-purpose built for CNC
-undesirable by others, not working, for parts(only because of age or controller obsolescence)
-retrofitable
-a deal (seller needs it gone and logistics comes together easily)

so it was the Weiler e70 with a Siemens sunimeric 805 control. 1995
we will powder coat and repaint all the sheetmetal and casting
Prev owner couldn’t get the control to work so I bought it not working.
I can do a retrofit but I think I have a fair shot at repairing the 805 (right?)
Seems this control has more documentation out there and a longer run some other orphaned controls I’ve seen

 

[Doug]

Looks like a regular manual lathe, most CNC lathes I have been around are slant bed.
How about some pix of the turret or whatever they have for tools.

 

[vmipacman]

Looks like a regular manual lathe, most CNC lathes I have been around are slant bed.
How about some pix of the turret or whatever they have for tools.

no it’s cnc, but can be used manually or conversationally (I think, I don’t know the 805 at all)
The handwheels spin encoders.
This is the setup I wanted, not slant bed. Not that slant bed wouldn’t have been better for chip control, but most of the work done on this will be shaft work. And not production. This will be better for the mix of work we do. we just need a cnc lathe, not a tool changing monster, so trading workpiece capacity for automation is an easy trade

 

[Mud]

Nice acquisition. My first CNC lathe was a Miltronics ML20 20" combo manual/cnc flatbed like that but smaller. You seldom see slant bed machines that long without being enormous all over. The handwheels are in the right place, mine were on the outside of the door and were awkward as hell.

 

[Garwood]

That's kind of a little guy. Are the specs I looked up correct at 13k lbs? If so, my god, where's the iron? My Leadwell LTC-30CP is about that size, but only 60" centers and it's over 20K lbs.

Would a Mazak M5 work for you? Not sure they made anything 120" centers, but they're a neat machine.

 

[vmipacman]

I would have taken an M5 as well but the Weiler is a solid machine and about the same as the M5, but maybe not in the weight.
it was only 13k. I was surprised too, but it made it a lot easier for us to handle without involving a rigger.
swing over bed is 28” and 120” between centers.
people have put the Weiler and mazak in the same class where I have seen discussions of oilfield lathes. But I don’t “really” know

 

[Garwood]

That makes sense.

And yeah, The M5's aren't a brick shithouse or anything. I think a longbed weighs around 16K, but the twin turret arrangement is really slick. The M4 with 60" centers is 13K.

The Mazak M4/M5 are designed so you can pop off the rear turret quick if you need the room, but they have a lot of room with it on.

PMtool has one of my old M4's. I miss it sometimes. It was a damn handly lathe. Really spoils you because you can leave both turrets loaded with tools and rarely have clearance issues.

Anyway, you got that one and it sounds like it'll work great for you.

 

[Spruewell]

Two steady rests will be handy for long work. What is the bed length?