Thread: Importing a lathe to Aus

Originally Posted by oldbuggermike

I used to be indecisive but now i'm not so sure.

It has all become a little moot for as much as i have lusted after a Hardinge since my early 20's i have always and still need something bigger than that. While it would be perfect for 90% of my wants it does, much to my chagrin, fall short for the remainder. I have a couple of friends to thank for repeatedly pointing out the obvious and destroying my lust. If my shed was a little larger i would get it plus a larger size. As it is at this point in time i will most likely admit defeat and get a Sunmaster TC-V 1640 locally, this can be optioned up to near 3,000 rpm so nearly satisfies that desire but i won't have the threading toy to play with .

If i don't change my mind by Monday i will order the Sunmaster and be done with it.

Standard lathe problem.... As I alluded to earlier, the Hardinge and clones aren't big enough for me personally. But like you, that's only 10% of the time. I think that's probably the case for most people who 'need' 14+ inches of swing, or 40+ inches of bed, with the exception of some job shops - the unfortunate reality is that most of the time the smaller machine would be perfect, but of course we end up with the bigger machine for that 10%. Be nice to have unlimited space and money to have multiple sizes, but most of us aren't that lucky.

I have to say though, I've been interested by your lathe choices - you've moved from one machine that I've looked at before and thought was pretty good, to another machine that I've looked at before and thought also presented as a good machine if you were buying new. No personal experience with them, but a bit of reading up on Sunmaster in the past suggests it should be a good machine.

Originally Posted by WCD

Thanks Elan and Ropetangler,

Originally Posted by elanjacobs
The handwheel is rack and pinion. "

So for manual ops, how is the ballscrew released, or is the screw just forced to rotate (back-driven) as the ball nut is forced to travel? If so, the motor would certainly need to be declutched. Maybe I am missing something.

It's hard to see a half-nut ballscrew working out well (screw would need very accurate location to oppose half-nut loads without losing control of ball to screw clearances.
Anyway, probably best not to stray too far from the original topic.
Bill

G'day Bill, I was really just being a bit of a smart ar*e when I said that it may disengage but be a problem to re-engage, because I imagine that it would be very difficult to make half (ball)nuts operate without loosing balls every time it was operated. On the other hand it may be possible to use a rotary encoder on the carriage handwheel to drive the servos and ballscrew to operate the carriage just like you would with a rack and pinion setup on a conventional manual lathe. No doubt there are many good reasons why this approach has rarely if ever been used.

Originally Posted by Ropetangler

...it may be possible to use a rotary encoder on the carriage handwheel to drive the servos and ballscrew to operate the carriage just like you would with a rack and pinion setup on a conventional manual lathe. No doubt there are many good reasons why this approach has rarely if ever been used.

An interesting thought! Though it would have the problem of loss of tool feel during manual operations.
Bill

For those contemplating DIY electronic leadscrews Clough42 on youtube has a very in depth series of videos about the process.

Originally Posted by Jekyll and Hyde

Standard lathe problem.... As I alluded to earlier, the Hardinge and clones aren't big enough for me personally. But like you, that's only 10% of the time. I think that's probably the case for most people who 'need' 14+ inches of swing, or 40+ inches of bed, with the exception of some job shops - the unfortunate reality is that most of the time the smaller machine would be perfect, but of course we end up with the bigger machine for that 10%. Be nice to have unlimited space and money to have multiple sizes, but most of us aren't that lucky.

I have to say though, I've been interested by your lathe choices - you've moved from one machine that I've looked at before and thought was pretty good, to another machine that I've looked at before and thought also presented as a good machine if you were buying new. No personal experience with them, but a bit of reading up on Sunmaster in the past suggests it should be a good machine.

I primarily look for quality and precision. The collets in the Hardinge (CycleMatic) have extremely low runout so second ops are a non event. I have seen tests of no discernible movement on a 1 micron test indicator. I don't need that good but it sure adds to the lust factor.
It remains to be seen how good the SunMaster will be but i do expect it to be as good as i want. The machine will need to be ordered as I want options that are not common such as 240v, higher spindle speeds and CSS. That means it will be several months before we see just what it can do. As i have a lot of quality 5C collets I will obtain a D1-6 adapter and probably grind the taper to suit if it isn't up to what i expect.
When I have had it for a while i will post my thoughts and results for the tests i do on this forum as the brand doesn't seem to be reviewed a lot although it is rebadged by many so reviews can only be found with some effort.

The sunmaster looks like a good machine. very similar to the Acra we have at work which has been a fantastic machine. I see the variable speed model is listed as the same HP as the geared model, it might struggle for torque at low RPM.

Originally Posted by snapatap

The sunmaster looks like a good machine. very similar to the Acra we have at work which has been a fantastic machine. I see the variable speed model is listed as the same HP as the geared model, it might struggle for torque at low RPM.

It has a 3 speed gearbox so i wasn't too worried about that

Originally Posted by WCD

Thanks Elan and Ropetangler,

Originally Posted by elanjacobs
The handwheel is rack and pinion. "

So for manual ops, how is the ballscrew released, or is the screw just forced to rotate (back-driven) as the ball nut is forced to travel? If so, the motor would certainly need to be declutched. Maybe I am missing something.

Our Schaublin is just a leadscrew with a half nut that works the usual way, but a high helix ballscrew can be driven by just sliding the nut along it with no issue, even with the motor connected (although there is some extra resistance if you don't decouple it).

Originally Posted by snapatap

The sunmaster looks like a good machine. very similar to the Acra we have at work which has been a fantastic machine. I see the variable speed model is listed as the same HP as the geared model, it might struggle for torque at low RPM.

Got the final quote for it today. They upped the motor to 10HP single phase to compensate for the higher RPM. I hope i don't melt the wiring .
Deposit paid should arrive in 2 to 3 months.
I ordered it with the variable speed and CSS, should be fun

Originally Posted by oldbuggermike

Got the final quote for it today. They upped the motor to 10HP single phase to compensate for the higher RPM. I hope i don't melt the wiring .
Deposit paid should arrive in 2 to 3 months.
I ordered it with the variable speed and CSS, should be fun

Sounds great, if your wiring can handle a shade over 31 amps, you should be right if you ever need all those 10 horsepower. Good luck with it, I and many others I'm sure are almost green with envy.
Rob

Originally Posted by oldbuggermike

Got the final quote for it today. They upped the motor to 10HP single phase to compensate for the higher RPM. I hope i don't melt the wiring .
Deposit paid should arrive in 2 to 3 months.
I ordered it with the variable speed and CSS, should be fun

Mike (you old bugger you)
You WILL definitely need to rewire your shed and possibly upgrade the feed-in from the street.
A single phase 10 HP motor will draw a shade over 31 amps when running. On start-up the motor will probably draw over 90 amps -- more than enough to throw the main switchboard breaker. Main switch board means what I said rewiring your shed will have to go back to the point where your power comes in from the street. Depending on where you live, the single phase wire from the street is possibly limited to 70 Amps.

I'll let you decide if you want/need to change the order to a 3 phase motor. But me thinks a 3 phase motor and 4th wire from the street will be the less expensive total cost option.

Originally Posted by ian

Mike (you old bugger you)
You WILL definitely need to rewire your shed and possibly upgrade the feed-in from the street.
A single phase 10 HP motor will draw a shade over 31 amps when running. On start-up the motor will probably draw over 90 amps -- more than enough to throw the main switchboard breaker. Main switch board means what I said rewiring your shed will have to go back to the point where your power comes in from the street. Depending on where you live, the single phase wire from the street is possibly limited to 70 Amps.

I'll let you decide if you want/need to change the order to a 3 phase motor. But me thinks a 3 phase motor and 4th wire from the street will be the less expensive total cost option.

Its driven by a Yasakawa VFD so soft start and not a lot of surge current. Underground power so getting 3 phase isn't likely. I have 10mm cable to the shed so that won't be a problem, not much of a run. Normal house supply is 63A in W.A.
Plug it in and see what happens

Originally Posted by oldbuggermike

Plug it in and see what happens

yup...that is my philosophy also, suck it n' see

Thats exciting. I'm excited for you. It will be a long wait I bet!

Simon

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk

congratulations, it will be good with a 10 hp motor, make sure you give us a review when you get it.